from Jackass to James Lundeen...

Day 995, Session 158:
When/Where: Monday March 16th & Wednesday March 18th - Running.
First song: Jackass by Green Day
Last full song: James Lundeen's Christmas by Garrison Keillor
Progress: 3547-3563 of 8507
Total Songs Heard: 2043

Observant readers among you may have noticed that the song total jumped over 1000 songs. I added a whole shit ton of music through from acts playing at SXSW 2009. If I were a really cool music blogger I'd be at SXSW 2009, but it's debatable if I'm actually a music blogger at all (I'm going with not really, although I was invited to a SXSW party this year.)

Smart readers may ask, "Why the hell would you add 1000+ songs when you just determined that you won't be finishing this project for 5 more years?" That is a fine question. So here's the thing... this project is never going to make me famous, and it's highly doubtful that it will ever make me a good writer, but the important thing is: this project gives me something to do. So 1000 more songs = 75 more entries or so. I just hope that I can come up with 75 some more entries to write about.

Now on to today. Well today and Monday and Tuesday.

The last few days it suddenly got nice in Chicago. The first nice weather of the year always make me itchy. I'm not a practicing manic depressive, but the first nice springy days of the year always leave me feeling manic. We had one nice day a few weeks ago and I went for a 40 minute walk. This time we strung three nice days and I took it a little farther.

Monday I took a staggering 15-minute run. I say staggering because I had been sick a lot of the weekend and fasted most of Sunday and Monday in an attempt to find some sort of equilibrium. Running when you're out of shape is hard enough, running when you've only eaten half a can of chicken noodle soup in the previous 36 hours is a recipe for disaster. Basically I ran for 5 minutes, felt like shit, walked for 5 minutes and then ran 5 more until I felt like I was going to die. Good times. That's why I don't have a separate entry for Monday, I only heard* 4 songs before giving up and packing it in.

Tuesday was a good day. I've lived in Chicago for 8 years now, and I've never gone down to Lake Michigan by myself. What can I say? I'm not a big fan of lakes. Tuesday was different though. It was so nice, that I just had to get out there. I also had to get out there because my cousin sent me Flat Stanley. Flat Stanley came with a letter requesting that we take pictures of Stanley around Chicago. Never one to let the children down, I took advantage of the 70 degree day to get some shots of Stanley around Chicago. Here's what I came up with...

Stanley at the Lake:

Stanley and the skyline:
Stanley at the zoo, which was closed :(
Stanley at Wrigley:
I figure doing a good job on this Stanley thing is one more indication that I'm ready to do thing for kids and therefore totally prepared for fatherhood... you know, except for the being totally unprepared part.

I didn't actually listen to any music on Tuesday because I was on my bike the whole time and iPod listening while biking just isn't safe. All in all I spent about 2 hours biking around (and another hour shooting and taking in the beautiful day.) By the end the legs... they were sore. So sore at the knees that I had trouble sleeping last night. I will overcome.

Wednesday should have been a day of rest, but I've been at rest for way too long. The kid is now 3 months out, and part of the reason I've been out running/biking around the last 2 days is because the kid is coming. When this project is done in 5 years, I don't want to be so out of shape that I'm unable to keep up with the perpetual motion machine that is a little kid. The ass groove on my couch is deep enough that I figure it'll take me 5 years to get into good enough shape to keep up with a kid, so instead of resting on Wednesday, I went out again for a run. This one was much less disastrous. I was able to run the entire 25 minutes. If I keep at it, I may just be able to keep up with this life yet.

*'heard' may be an overstatement, mostly I heard my heart pounding in my ears.

from Holly Up to Home For A Rest

Day 665, Session 123:
When/Where: Tuesday April 15th - Walking to the post office to mail taxes, then running home.
First song: Holly Up On Poppy by XTC
Last full song: Home For A Rest by Great Big Sea
Progress: 1975-1980 of 5894
Total Songs Heard: 1574

Good news and bad news from the running project. The good news: This particular run was the first time I managed to go a full mile without breaking into a walk. Now I know, you're probably thinking that a mile isn't all that much, and I tend to agree but I've gotta start somewhere right? The key to this whole project (both this one and the running one) is to keep everything from getting painful. If things get painful, they're no longer fun and if something isn't fun, why in the world would I keep doing it? So yeah, a mile and it wasn't that bad.

The bad: What was bad was when I decided to walk back from I.O. that night in a different pair of shoes. It was a two mile walk and by the end I knew I had new and exciting blisters on my feet. Stupid feet. As a side note, the single most looked at page of this blog is the entry that has a picture of my blistered foot. Makes me wonder if besides my 10 (that's right we're in double figures!) loyal readers, all I'm really doing here is disappointing a bunch of foot fetishists.

As far as the music goes, there were 4 straight songs about home. On a recent trip back to Philadelphia for a cousin's wedding my entire family stopped by our old house in Havertown. The family that owns the house now (not the people we sold to) were all out in the yard, so (much to our embarrassment) our parents got out and started talking to them. They invited us to come in a look around and see the changes they had made to the place. It was strange. (So strange that all the significant others stayed in the car.) The house looked like I remembered it, yet at the same time I couldn't muster up any connection to the place. I lived there for 5 years, but it may have well have been the first time I walked in there.

This only furthers my earlier theory (a theory that I'm sure I'me the only person to ever come up with) that a place doesn't make a home, people do.

I will say though, when you're out running and you're tired and you've gone farther than you have in a while, the physical place is home enough. Home For A Rest came just as I was finishing the mile and doing a quick cool down walk, sometimes song timing is eerie appropriate.

Home - Barenaked Ladies
Home For A Rest - Great Big Sea

from High Enough to Highway Blues

Day 657, Session 121:
When/Where: Monday April 7th - Running for the third time. This officially makes it a pattern.
First song: High Enough by Damn Yankees
Last full song: Highway Blues by Marc Seales, composer. New Stories. Ernie Watts, saxophone
Progress: 1933-1937 of 5869
Total Songs Heard: 1541

Shockingly the run this time didn't go well (as the fact that I was only out for 5 songs can probably attest.) 15 minutes of movement are ok, but the last 8 or so were spent with angry burning lungs. I can't remember the last time I ran my way into a stitch in the side, but I somehow managed to do it this time. (I do remember when I was 5, I told a fundamentalist Christian friend that "Catholics don't get [stitches]." Apparently I was very proud of my religion then. I was also a liar as I specifically remember having a cramp while I was claiming that my god prevented me from getting them.)

I believe the problem here was two-fold. 1) I had a long weekend. My improv team, Wing Night, threw a fund raiser party/flip-cup tournament over the weekend. I remember when I could stay up all night partying and then still be worth a damn the next day. I think that era may have passed. The party didn't start until midnight and I didn't get home until sometime early in the morning. (7am maybe?) Things were actually find while the party was going on. Everyone had a great time, funds were raised, cleaning went smoothly (the part I helped with anyhow.) The only bad part of the evening, er morning, was deciding that the best thing to eat at 6am was a bar-b-que bacon cheeseburger. All of that has nothing to do with the music. Sorry.

The second reason: my music for the day peaked as I was walking out the door.

High Enough by Damn Yankees is one of my favorite songs ever. Seriously. It's the only song I owned as a cassette single. It came out my freshman year of high school. That was an awesome time for groups that you knew for 6 months and then never heard of again: Nelson, Extreme, Mr. Big, and the rock super group Damn Yankees. Super group you say? Sure, Damn Yankees was made up of members of Styx! Night Ranger! and... TED NUGENT himself! How much more super could a group get?

If you don't remember this song, you own it to yourself to take a listen. It starts with an orchestra(!), moves to solo voice with acoustic guitar and then it takes off. Harmonies! Orchestra! Electric guitar! More Soaring Harmonies! and don't forget Rocking Guitar Solos! I'm telling you, this was the apex of early 90's rock/pop.

Well unfortunately, 4:45 after it started, it was over. Every song after seemed like a let down, so I packed it in early and trudged home.

High Enough - Damn Yankees

For more on the 1990's awesome contributions to music, please check out Can You See the Sunset? Their occasional feature It Came From the 90's is chock full of awesome.

from Hidden Place to High Council Meeting

Day 653, Session 120:
When/Where: Thursday April 3rd - Running around the neighborhood, again.
First song: Hidden Place by Bjork
Last full song: High Council Meeting by John Williams
Progress: 1921-1926 of 5833
Total Songs Heard: 1536

Here is what I forgot about running (or really exercise in general:) the next day's soreness. It wasn't awful, but I did notice it any time I was going down stairs and by notice it, I mean I was saying "ow, ow, ow, ow, ow" every time stairs happened.

This run went faster, but it seemed harder. I covered the same distance in less time but the third running portion of my run walk alternating was aborted early. I realize I'm just starting out here, but I'm still waiting for the part where the actual running makes me feel good instead of shitty. I know the last entry said I was pleased with how things went, but I just meant I'm glad I didn't die, and I'm glad I didn't immediately notice a body part straining or breaking. As far as why someone would enjoy running... I still don't get it. I've heard about that thing called a runner's high but I'm pretty sure that's only for people that are going real distances for an extended period, so what is the point for short distance pavement pounders?

I also noticed today that when the running is harder, I hardly hear the music. I know 6 songs played while I was out today, but I hardly remember hearing them. It seems I heard both James Blunt's High and Travis' High As A Kite, so one of those seems like a good idea to apply to today. I'm just not sure if I'll find the high that runner's get, or if I may as well be high (as a kite) for even attempting this experiment. (I sure seem ready to give up quick, eh?)

High As A Kite - Travis

One more thing about this day. I realized as I was running that when I threw a date on this session it was going to be the 16th anniversary of this story. That was 16 years ago. I was 16 at the time. That officially took place half a lifetime ago. Fuck that makes me feel old. Older than sucking wind after a mile run/walk.

from Hey Now! to Hidden #7

Day 651, Session 119:
When/Where: Tuesday April 1st - Running around the neighborhood, literally this time.
First song: Hey Now! by Oasis
Last full song: Hidden #7 This Ape's For You by They Might Be Giants
Progress: 1879-1892 of 5780
Total Songs Heard: 1530

**This entry has been expanded from it's original post, much like my running I went out in this post too fast then got too tired to originally post the whole thing.**

This is not an April Fools joke, I was literally running while listening to these songs. Outside. Wearing actual running shoes. Not being chased by anything. For the first time in,I'm going to say 15 years, I went for a run.

The entire decision to try running again was fueled by a few factors: 1) I'm not exactly what you would call in prime shape and since I have no plans on giving up beer any time soon, I figure I have to try to balance out the drinking somehow. B) I've been unemployed for several months now and since this winter is the worst I've seen since moving to Chicago 7 years ago, that means I've spent A LOT of time inside. Even I'm a little tired of inside. III) When the weather was nice for a few days last week, the wife and I went out on a few walks. Even that little bit of walking was enough to blister up my baby soft feet, which meant I had to buy a new pair of shoes that would allow me to walk around without blisters. I may be older, but I'm sure not old enough yet to buy "walking shoes" which means I bought running shoes. As long as I'm spending money on running shoes, I'm going to try to run in them.

Hey Now! by Oasis - This was playing in the house while I was trying to figure out how the to get the lanyard that attaches to my headphones for "active" purposes to work. I found these lyrics oddly prescient:

I thought that I heard someone say now
There's no time for running away now
Hey now! Hey now!

Feel no shame - cos time's no chain
Feel no shame

So on the one hand, Oasis is telling me that this is no time to run (away now,) so I'm like, "Hey, good idea!" Then immediately after they're saying to feel no shame and, well, one of the reasons I haven't run in a long time is that I'm a little ashamed of how out of shape I'm going to look out there huffing and puffing despite moving at a ridiculously slow pace, so I think, "Well, if I'm supposed to feel no shame, I guess I'll run."

Hey Pretty by Poe - So out I stepped into the world ready to take it on. I walked to the corner to warm up and then started jogging. This lasted all of three steps until my ear buds popped out of my ears. This was undoubtedly a sign that I was not supposed to do this. Knowing that I couldn't run without music, I turned around and started heading back to the house.

Hey Pretty (Drive-by Remix) by Poe - While walking back to the house this song came on. There's not much to say about this particular remix other than it's the radio safe version (which I found while looking up the lyrics, apparently there's a more explicit version out there,) and if someone named Kyrie ever offers me a ride in her BMW coupe I'm going.

Hey Ya by Matt Weddle - After briefly considering just giving up, I changed headphones and pants, it wasn't warm enough for what I was wearing first, and was sent back out the door by a laid back acoustic cover of Hey Ya. I walked about a quarter mile again to warm up again and this time I was ready to go. The nice gentle acousticness kept everything calm. I didn't run too hard or too soft, it seemed just right. And at the end of the quarter mile I transitioned back to walking and was surprised at how good I felt.

Hey Ya by Outkast - Even if I hadn't felt good, Outkast probably would have picked me back up. Suddenly in my ears it was 2004 again. I wasn't even 30 yet! This was going great! Time to start running again!

Hey You by No Doubt - Here's where things started to go downhill. I ran another 1/4 mile at a decent pace (I had gone about a mile at this point running half of it) but towards the end I noticed how heavy my legs felt. Then once it was back to walking time I noticed that where I had been breathing free most of the way, now it felt like someone had put a bar of soap in a sock and then whacked me with it right in the middle of the chest.

The rest of the way I pretty much shut it down. I walked the next 3/4 towards home before taking the last 1/4 mile at a real slow jog. I probably went out a little too hard my first time in 15 years, but all-in-all I was pleased with the experience.