August Twelfth

“Twelfth” has just one vowel
But lots of length.
Still it’s beaten out
By good old “strength”.

USPS Rebranding

“Snail mail” sounds derogatory, so...
I’m recommending “lettres de escargot”!

A New Part

Brain, embrace the challenge of size:
Lots of lines to memorize!

Freedom

Individual rights
Give some people frights,
But the best is attained
When no one's enchained.

Neonatal Vision

I suppose it’s quite a surprise,
Having lurked in the dark endless days,
To suddenly open your eyes
And meet your mother’s gaze.

Violence

I see in the news that 40 people were shot in Chicago in a 7 hour span. Four of them died. It's mostly the usual stuff - mostly gang rivalries in rough African American neighborhoods. It was a hot weekend, so lots of people were outdoors, which always seems to increase the likelihood of shootings.

Earlier this week, a couple of ministers led an "anti-violence" protest march through the nice neighborhood near Wrigley Field, where the Cubs play. The march snarled traffic during evening rush hour. The ministers said their goal was to "redistribute the pain", which sounds like a threat, and which got a lot of local press coverage... but which didn't really seem to scare anyone much.

There's a lot going on with these shootings. But I want to talk about one particular problem where witnesses won't i.d. perpetrators. Sometimes this is because witnesses are scared of the perpetrators. But not always. Sometimes this is because witnesses - and even victims - think the matter should be settled between the gangs themselves, that it's the gangs' business, not really police business.

These sorts of attitudes
Help continue the feuds.

Red Blooded

The blood donation people call our house everyday. I've given gallons over the years, but nowadays I think I average 1 or 2 pints a year. I have the sense it affects my race times, so I like to give in the cold months, when I'm not racing. When I looked it up recently, trying to stick to substantial studies, it does seem statistically likely to slow me down a bit.

I remember mentioning to a doctor once that I thought I could feel the effect of donating on my running times, even after 2 weeks. He seemed skeptical. But, maybe it's all about the fact that I actually push up to my personal maximum when I race. And, nowadays, my personal maximum speed isn't all that maximum, so I really notice any slow-down!

The standard donation info online says that you replace all your red blood cells in 8 weeks. But apparently that's an average.

"Blood donors are allowed to give one pint of blood every eight weeks. A major concern is that about 25-35 percent of regular donors develop iron deficiency."

That's a big percentage of people who evidently need more than 8 weeks. Anyway, it turns out that taking extra iron helps your red cells recover faster. So... what the heck... Even though I normally resist dietary supplementation...

I decided to take some iron pills
To make up for my racing ills.

Sounds

Distant din of children at the park,
Summer evening long before it’s dark.

I.D. Required

My grocer said I shouldn't be makin'
Breakfast with Canadian bacon
Unless I could demonstrate
That my passport was up to date.

Mean vs. True - What Should I Do?

It kind of annoys me when I'm outside, and I see the sun is at its highest point of the day - due south - and I think to myself that it's true noon. The I look at my watch, and often it's not that close to noon! 

That's because our official time keeping is done by means of the "mean sun" rather than the "true sun".

"Now, the variations in the true Sun's motion causes it to sometimes be ahead of, sometimes lag behind, and sometimes be neck and neck with the mean Sun."

Also, because Daylight Savings Time really throws things off around here.

I was thinking of switching to solar noon.
I planned to do it very soon.
I bought a super precise sun dial,
But late at night, it's not worthwhile.

Storage

It was brilliant to call it the cloud
And to claim it was everywhere,
Rather than saying “it’s just a crowd
Of random servers, here and there.”

Hale Theatre Rehearsal

They've officially started rehearsing the new production of my play, O’Brien & O’Brian.

Tonight’s initial reading
Gave me laughs I was needing.
Now I just have to remember
Not to miss the actual show in mid-September.

Language Shifts

Call them “senior citizens” I was told.
It was a euphemism for being “old”,
But biased against non-citizens - that’s clear.
Now just “seniors” is mostly what I hear!
It seems to mean we’re of an age to retire,
But not quite ready to just give up and expire.

Twitter Stock Dives

When you're a kind of dive bar,
Where lots of fights occur,
Just admit what you are,
And go on as you were.

Don't try to redeem your brand,
By forcing the trolls to leave -
That easily gets out of hand,
And then your investors will grieve.

Manteno 2018

I did the Manteno Triathlon this morning.



Last year I was the only male in my age group. I took first place, just for finishing.

This year there were 4 of us, same age group as last time. I took third place. I worked harder because I purposely passed someone in my group and kept up my speed to maintain my lead.



I think intrinsic goals are generally better, in a number of ways. But there is something natural about the urge to compete, something natural that can improve performances.

When I was in my thirties I did my first foot race as an adult - a 10k. I was surprised, as we left the starting line, by what I felt.

I felt the urge to compete
Possess my feet.

Casting that Spell

There's something ironic
About the spelling of phonic.

English orthography
May seem like a mystery.
But really it's a lesson
In geography and history.

Strings Attached

“Everybody knows about fire and the wheel, but string is one of the most powerful tools and really the most overlooked,” says Saskia Wolsak, an ethnobotanist at the University of British Columbia who recently began a PhD on the cultural history of string. “It’s relatively invisible until you start looking for it. Then you see it everywhere.”

The invention of string and rope
Helped humans cope.
I suspect they looked at a vine,
And stole the design.

Alarms

I thank you, dog, for being on such steady high alert.
With that great bark, the burglars will be scared of getting hurt.
But there’s no need to raise the roof each time a dog goes by.
You’ll scare them more, I swear, by giving the silent treatment a try!

Terrible Lizard

If you hear a stegosaurus
Sing the Hallelujah Chorus,
In a bright soprano voice...
Recall that you are dreaming and rejoice.

Professional Bike Racing

We had some serious bicycle racing in the neighborhood yesterday, and we walked around the course while the women were racing.

The women were noticeably slower than the men. My wife was wondering why that was, since it didn't seem likely to be due to male upper body strength. She wondered if it was something to do with the different hip structures. I said I didn't know why it was, but that female champion marathoners are slower than male champions, and that there were no women that I'd heard of in the Tour de France.

Anyway, I found an article about why men are faster runners, and it turns out it's multiple biological factors, including both the hip structure and the fact that men actually have more muscle in their legs. Well, this is why we have separate prizes or races for women.

Here's a separate article about the difference between male and female Olympic cycling, which gets into some of the arcane aspects of advanced cycling.

Of course, every single one of the women cyclists on the course could beat me in a bike race.

I think everyone riding had a ten thousand dollar bike,
Any one of which... I would like.