I am still here

Thanks for the concern, everyone, but really I'm OK. I guess I have needed a break from blogging and I'm really not sure why. It was just my impulse not to record what's been going on.

A large part of it is that I've been very busy. Since my last post (Jan 20), I have painted my Urinetown set during two weekends in New Jersey, gone to Portland Oregon to teach Vectorworks to Portland Opera technical folk, went back out to New Jersey to take pictures of Urinetown, travelled to Iowa to help improve the drafting efficiency at Dobson Orgon (check out the link! and yes their shop IS a little like Santa's workshop!), attended a production meeting for an April dance concert and am now preparing to fly out Sunday to go teach Vectorworks Spotlight in Las Vegas. In short, I'm busy as hell. In fact, I need to be brief in this post because I've got to go get some groceries and get back on the phone while businesses are still open.

The other part of my reluctance to post is that I have not been feeling well. This (brief) winter has been very hard on my lungs - so my running has been hit-or-miss. One week I'll run every other day and put in a full 5K or more each day, the next week, nothing at all. During my last run before going to Portland, my sputum contained blood - I suppose the 14 degree weather contributed to that (and I haven't seen it since). But I haven't been running while traveling, either, even though I take gear with me. In Portland, I came down with something flu-like and I hurt all over (muscles and joints) in a way I've never felt before. At one point, I could barely get out of bed to get to the bathroom for Tylenol (fortunately that was in the afternoon of the last day there, when my teaching was already over). In Carroll, Iowa, it was dark before and after teaching and the roads are too dangerous to run on at night - and there are no sidewalks.

So it was with a great sense of shame that I let day after day go by without posting. I don't know that this latent period is at an end, tho. I am feeling disgruntled that my resolution to get my base back on track has actually gone the other way, though I am looking at April Healthy Kidney 10K with some optimism - if the weather is warm, I should be able to turn in an acceptable performance. I may walk the biggest hills, but I don't think my lungs or legs will cause me major problems. Don't know about the Brooklyn Half though.

So in the meantime, my newer pair of running shoes have become comfortable and I've retired my old ones to paint-clothes status. In the picture below, I've highlighted the major wear-points of my old shoes (symmetrical on both shoes) and compared them to the new shoes. I've gone right through the first layer of rubber in places and both layers in one or two spots - I didn't realize they'd gone that far.



And here, for your viewing pleasure, are a couple pics of Urinetown, featuring my set. The lighting was fantastic, too, done by a friend of mine.

"Look At The Sky" finale - set in Amenity mode.


"Snuff That Girl"; set in Secret Hideout mode


Bobby being escorted to Urinetown; i.e. about to be thrown off the top of the Urine Good Company corporate headquarters. Set in UGC mode.



So. I did get a run in yesterday and got pretty wet doing so. I was proud of myself for ignoring weather (for once) and just doing it, though it was pretty short. Today is beautiful weather, and I'm hoping tomorrow is, too, when I have six miles planned, no matter how long it takes me.