One Down...One To Go

I finished the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon this morning in 1:51:04 (unofficially), much faster than I figured I'd run. Now I shift my focus to the race in Columbus tomorrow morning...

Also, both Deepti and Hailey finished on pace, capping off very successful first race training/race cycles for both. They claim they never want to run a mini again, but you know how that goes.

The weather was wonderful, the race was well organized (and on time!), the volunteers very helpful, and the post-race cookout was phenomenal. This race was much more enjoyable than last year when I ran the marathon--having other folks to share the experience with can't be overrated.

I'll post more pictures and details later.

My First NFL Game

My roommate Barrett won a couple of tickets to last weekend's Colts' game, and he was kind enough to take me along.

We first had dinner at a great micro-brewery downtown near the Circle Center mall. I'm not much of a fan of micro-brew beer (too strong), but they had a pale ale that wasn't too bad. The bacon cheeseburger was AMAZING.



Lucas Oil Stadium is the new home of the Colts, but they unfortunately had yet to win a game at home this season.



The stadium is the NFL's first with a retractable roof AND a window that opens in the front. I'm not sure why they claim this as such a big deal, but it was pretty cool. Apparently they have to decide a few hours before the game whether the roof is going to be open or closed for the game. Does this mean if it starts pouring rain in the middle of the game they have to leave it open? Wouldn't that be great...I'm sitting getting soaked and there's a roof you can close?!



As you can see, we had really good seats. The only drawback was that as the sun made its way across the stadium, we ended up in the heat of the sun in the late afternoon. It occurred to me after we left that season ticket holders of the RCA Dome are probably experiencing this for the first time... In spite of the open roof and window, there wasn't much of a breeze.



I can almost see how the NFL can support the salaries they pay their players...of the 63,000 that Lucas Oil can hold, I'd guess at least half were wearing > $100 in Colts gear. Sell a few $3.50 bottles of water, LOTS of $7 beers, and...well...it adds up.

Here's the obligatory self-portrait to prove I didn't just get these pictures from Flickr.



The game was really exciting...and the Colts ended up winning 31-3. Special thanks to Barrett for picking me to go along with him....

Happy Feet

I'm really excited about my new Birkenstock sandals. I've wanted a good pair of sandals for a while, and with a beach vacation and a trip to India both scheduled for the end of the year, the time seemed right.

I'm finding that my friends are right...they take a while to break in, and this isn't exactly the best time of year to be wearing them all the time, but I think they'll be in perfect shape by the time we leave for India in December.

Ponytail...Birks... All I need now is a few tie-dyed shirts and I'm golden..

Oops...

I saw this yesterday in the Wal-Mart parking lot. It's not easy to see in the picture, but yes, the post is actually actively pushing into the bumper on the driver's side...

I guess I was surprised the driver didn't feel or hear the impact, or obviously he or she would have pulled forward a bit.

I wonder if they've even noticed the damage to their car yet...who walks around their car before getting in and going?

Great Idea...Wish I'd Thought of it

This truck was sitting in the parking lot of Bruno's--a popular local pizza place...

Buried Treasure?

During the move a few weeks ago, I found a box of old desk items from my residence hall days (you know, one of those boxes that just gets moved from place to place--stored but never opened), and I found my old 35mm point-and-shoot camera...with film in it!

I purchased my first digital camera in 2000 (yes, I was an early adopter--paying $300 for a 1 MP Kodak) specifically because I was frustrated at not having any pictures of the events in my life. I bought it after developing a roll of film and finding two Christmases on the same roll--one at the front, some other misc yearly events in the middle, and another at the end. The thought was that by buying a digital camera and rechargeable batteries, the marginal cost of the next picture was negligible, thus encouraging me to take pictures more often.

It worked...I'm on my third digital camera and have taken almost 10 GB of pictures in the past nine years.

So this mystery role of film is likely from the 1999-2000 time frame, but it could possibly contain pictures older than that. What will it reveal? Stay tuned...

The True Self

From Brennan Manning's "Abba's Child":

If I must seek an identity outside of myself, then the accumulation of wealth, power, and honors allures me. Or I may find my center of gravity in interpersonal relationships. Ironically, the church itself can stroke the impostor by conferring and withholding honors, offering pride of place based on performance, and creating the illusion of status by rank and pecking order. When belonging to an elite group eclipses the love of God, when I draw life and meaning from any source other than my belovedness, I am spiritually dead. When God gets relegated to second place behind any bauble or trinket, I have swapped the pearl of great price for painted fragments of glass. "Who am I?" asked Merton, and he responded, "I am one loved by Christ." This is the foundation of the true self.