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Earthquake!!

There was a 5.2 earthquake here in Illinois this morning. The epicenter was down at the southern end of the state, and it happened at 4:36 in the morning, so I feel like I missed it because I was out cold asleep.

Nora just sent me a message though now at around 10:30 saying that she felt like there was an earthquake happening right now. I wonder if it was an aftershock?

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My Bloody Valentine - Reunited

"Wow" is all that I can say. It has finally happened. One of my favorite bands of all time has reunited and is undertaking a tour. My Bloody Valentine, that band that made layer upon layer of melody, sounds, distortion, feedback and vocals become some of the most interesting soundscapes that I've ever heard has officially reunited.

Right now, they have only announced European dates, but good god I can only hope and pray that they come to the USA. Preferably Chicago (for convenience), but I will glady fly to another city if necessary.

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Update in a Nutshell

Wow, I haven't really written anything since Halloween? That's crazy. Here's the scoop to get you all back in the loop:

1. The holidays all happened and they were fun.
2. Nora's work was crazy hectic, but it's gotten better since the holidays.
3. My work is getting more and more hectic, but I'm doing some really interesting stuff.
4. Nora, Julia and I took a daylong road trip out Route 66 on a 50 degree day in January. It was great to get out of the city for just a while.
5. I finished an undefeated season of MotoGP 06 on Xbox360. I still have to start a season of MotoGP 07.
6. Guitar Hero quickly became a favorite past-time among our friends.
7. Now that we have Rock Band, that is sure to keep everyone entertained too.
8. We are anxiously awaiting the imminent arrival of spring so that we can get outside and enjoy ourselves. I personally can't wait to start running and riding the motorcycle again.
9. I've been very slowly working on a new version of Onxiam. I think it'll be done soon, but it's been hard to stay motivated to finish.
10. Life with Levee is still awesome. She is an absolute gift.

Obviously there is much more detail, but we'll just leave it at this nice little summary for now.

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Garfield Minus Garfield

I remember reading Garfield comic strips when I was a little kid. As I got older, I realized that they really made no sense and were not even remotely funny. Now this old comic has a new life and I have a newfound respect for it thanks to Garfield Minus Garfield.

What is Garfield Minus Garfield? Here's the description on the page:

"Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let's laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against lonliness in a quiet American suburb."

Go take a look and laugh as hard as I did!

PS - This has to be my favorite one.

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October and November

Yeah, those two months went by in a hurry!

I spent a couple weeks recovering from the marathon. It was strange -- this one really took a lot out of me. I suppose I should not be surprised due the the heat and conditions on the day, but it really threw my body for a loop. But I'm feeling much better now!

My friends Dave and Julia threw a Halloween costume party. As always it was a good time. There were some really creative costumes like Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, Pat Benetar, and the skinny guy from the Dire Straits Money for Nothing video. Stacey's costume was so good that at first nobody recognized her. Nora and I did a group-costume thing along with Dave and Julia and went as the cast of Scooby Doo:

Moving on to November, Nora actually had Thanksgiving day off from work! To celebrate, we cooked up some good food, put Levee in the car and drove up to Wisconsin to have dinner with my Mom, Dad and brother. As usual, Levee was the life of the party -- running around the house, sniffing everything like a curious puppy will, waiting...hoping...praying that my Mom would drop some turkey on the floor.

The next day was Nora's birthday and I took her to a performance of Dance Chicago. I know that she missing dancing a lot and figured that she would really enjoy seeing the show. She did enjoy it, so that made me pretty happy.

Since then it's been a whole lot of little things. Cleaning the house, rearranging things, purging old things out, setting up our new tv, continuing the ongoing home-improvement projects. Our house is really coming together, but all of the projects certainly do take a lot of time.

Now here we are in December. Looking at our calendar, things are not going to slow down anytime this month, so let's just roll with it! Time to get into full holiday mode (without being crazy).

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Chicago Marathon 2007

It was not easy, but I made it to the finish line on Sunday completing my fourth Chicago Marathon, and this one was the most difficult physical challenge that I've ever endured.

If you haven't already heard, we had record-setting heat on race day this year. The temperature was close to 90 degrees, and the humidity was incredibly high too. This is a bad combination to have when you're staring down the starting line of a 26.2 mile challenge.

I started with my pace group -- a predicted 4 hour finish time -- but I quickly decided that there was NO WAY that I was going to hold my normal pace. I began slowing down gradually about 3 miles into the race. I fast realized that this race was not going to be about speed, but rather it was going to be about running smart -- using my head and listening to my body. I trained very hard this year and am in great shape, but I also worked hard this year on listening to my body and being aware of how hard I'm pushing at any given time. This really helped me during the race.

By the time I first saw Nora around the 12 mile mark, I stopped and told her that I was doing ok but I was really feeling the effects of the heat. While I ate the fruit that she gave me, she told me to be careful and I assured her that I would. I left her and continued on my way. It wasn't but a few minutes later that I saw the first of many people being wheeled away on a stretcher.

As the race progressed, the heat continued to climb. Heading west after the halfway point was not fun. There is practically no shade there, and I could see the heat taking a toll on many runners. I kept going at a moderate pace, and when I began to feel too weak or too hot, I would slow to a walk. By the time I was heading south on Ashland towards Pilsen, it was a common sight for me to see people on stretchers, people sitting on the sidewalk or street hooked up to IVs, medic tents overflowing with people at every aid station...

As I approached Chinatown, I started seeing firefighters opening up hydrants and having them spray all the runners. They also began yelling over a bullhorn that the race had been cancelled due to the severe heat. This only resulted in a lot of very confused runners. To make a long story short, everyone continued going forward on the course, but the police, firefighters and volunteers were telling everyone to please stop running. They kept telling us to just walk the course to the finish line because there were no more available ambulances. I was perfectly content to walk because yes, it was extraordinarily hot and I wasn't out to break any set time -- I was simply trying to finish, safely.

As I walked north on Michigan Avenue, a police helicopter was buzzing low overhead with the speakers blaring "The race has ended. Please stop running!!!" I was walking next to a group of three men from Brazil and they laughed that while Brazil may be hot, it's not humid like this. They kept walking, and so did I and everyone else around me...all the way to Roosevelt Rd. There we turned the corner, climbed the hill and turned left onto Columbus and into the chute that heads towards the finish line. It was right about there that everyone began leisurely jogging once again. I crossed the finish line with a time of 5:24:10 -- more than an hour slower than I had been planning on running, but all things considered, I was perfectly happy.

I now have one more marathon medal to add to the collection, along with an incredible story.

All photos taken by Nora.

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Race Week

Race week has arrived. This weekend I'll be crossing the line to run my 4th straight Chicago Marathon. Training this year has been mixed -- sometimes I've felt really strong, other times not so much. One thing is for sure though...it has been quite tiring.

With the race coming up, I keep finding myself thinking back on the last three years or running.

The first one I did all alone, just to do it. I had always wondered if I could, and I decided to go for it. I remember how nervous I was looking at the Chicago skyline while riding in the back of Mo and Trapper's car with Nora next to me on the morning of the race. The race was tough, but so incredibly moving at the same time. I made it to the finish line and didn't think that I would ever do it again. Ha.

The second year I ran with Nora as she did her first marathon. This was while Nora was still living in San Francisco, so we had been training independently of each other except for a few occassions when we were together on weekends. The day of the race, she was ready to go. It was great fun running with her and seeing her experience what I had experienced for the first time just the year before. At the end of the race, she turned on the afterburners and crossed the finish line ahead of me. Cheater. Just kidding babe. Love you!

Last year I ran with a whole group of friends which gave the race a whole new dynamic for me. Everyone had their own reasons for running, and though the weather wasn't that great for us on race day, everyone still managed to cross the finish line uninjured and succeed in meeting their goal. That was really awesome. I keep a copy of our post-finish group photo on my desk at my office. I love looking at that picture and seeing how happy everyone looks after accomplishing such a great thing.

Now it's the fourth year, and I'm running solo again -- well, except for the other 45,000 runners. This week is just about staying loose, resting, hydrating and getting in a good mental space to run on Sunday.

I'm thankful to all of my friends who have come out to cheer and support me in the past. No worries though -- you are all off the hook for this one! I also want to thank Nora for her undying support. In addition to the countless ways that you support me everyday, you've also been there with me for every one of these marathons...cheering and encouraging me, listening to me complain when training isn't going so well or running right alongside me. I can't thank you enough for that and for all that you do.

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Congratulations Casey Stoner & Ducati

In an effort to be nice to anyone who had recorded the Montegi MotoGP race and had not yet watched it, I held off on posting this for a week. Now I figure that you've all had enough time, so I won't be spoiling the surprise when I say...

Congratulations Casey Stoner and Ducati on winning the 2007 MotoGP World Championship! Ducati has put up a good slideshow showing some of the best photos from this year, and MotoGP has made a short video montage. Casey has ridden like a champion this season, and being aDucati fan, it has been exciting to see the team perform so well.

While the championship has been wrapped up mathematically, there are still three races left in the 2007 season, so the fun is not yet over.

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Levee - One Year Later

One year ago today, Nora and I adopted Levee, a scrawny little puppy that came to Chicago as a hurricane Katrina refugee.

It started with a chance viewing of her on TV and a photo on the PAWS website.

We immediately started calling them trying to set up a meeting. We met her the next day and adopted her on the spot.

It's been quite a first year for Levee here in Chicago. She was for the most part very well behaved right from the beginning, but being a puppy she just had to let that abundance of energy out...sometimes when Nora and I were not home.

She has watched us run a marathon...

She made some dog friends of her own...

She played in the snow for the very first time and survived winter (with a little help)...

She graduated from puppy class...

She made friends with the staff and tried out the pool at Stay...

And showed how sweet she is by playing gently with the kids of our friends.

But most importantly, Levee has given Nora and I so much joy. She is a great dog, a true part of the family and we just love her to death. I don't know whether we found her or if she found us, but thankfully we're all together now, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Happy first year, pup!

I also wanted to say thank you to all of our friends who have played with her, watched her for us when we've been out of town and become part of Levee's Chicago pack. She gets excited every time her friends come to visit!

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I Love MotoGP

I've been watching the MotoGP season this year and yesterday's race at Estoril was so great that I just had to write this post.

If you're not familiar with MotoGP [Wikipedia], it is the premiere class of motorcycle racing, and it is absolutely amazing to watch. These riders reach speeds in excess of 200mph and it is a pure sprint from start to finish -- no pit-stops! What really makes these races exciting is the speed, the skill of the riders, the amazing machinery and how (usually) close they are all the way to the finish line. That is why yesterday's race was so much fun to watch -- it was full of great racing, great passing and was exciting from start to finish.

If this at all gets your curiousity going, I'll leave you with these few videos:

This is a video that someone made of last year's race at Mugello, Italy. Valentino Rossi is in all yellow leathers fighting it out with the Ducati riders on the red white and green bikes (emulating the Italian flag for their home race). This video has the description: "The best rider ever, on one of the best races ever." This is the most well put together MotoGP video that I've seen.

Mugello 2006 - Music: Muse - Knights of Cydonia

And here is yesterday's race at Estoril:

Part 1/4 - Part 2/4 - Part 3/4 - Part 4/4

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Stevie Wonder - Live in Chicago

After a rainy first attempt to see Stevie Wonder on Monday night was cancelled, the rescheduled show took place last night without a hitch. The venue was beautiful, and the show was awesome. As Nora mentioned, the way that he opened the concert was very beautiful and moving, and from then on it was just song after song after song with people singing and dancing everywhere.

This concert was a dream come true for Nora, and it was a blast to watch her having the time of her life. The show lasted probably close to three hours, but it went by very quickly. Being there and hearing the songs performed live, for me it really had a different feel than when I hear them on a cd. It's hard to describe, but it was just really great, and the whole time you just knew that you were watching and being a part of something very special. As one song ended and the next song began, I just thought to myself, "I know these are all his songs, but seriouisly, it's hard to believe that one person could write all of these..." His talent really is truly astounding.

I'm really glad that we had this chance to see Stevie play a show. It's not everyday that you get to see a true legend performing their art, but this was certainly one of those times. With so much sub-par music being produced and marketed today, it's quite a reality check to witness someone who is such a master of the medium.

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A Rainy Night of Stevie

Last night, Nora and I went to go see Stevie Wonder play a concert at Northerly Island on the edge of Lake Michigan here in Chicago. It's a beautiful place for a concert, except for when it's pouring rain.

After more than an hour on the train to travel the whopping 7 miles from the northside todowntown (thanks for being slow like always, CTA), we emerged from the train tunnel onto State Street to see the streets absolutely gridlocked with traffic due to the pouring rain. So we had to run (literally) from the train all the way to the venue...in the rain. By the time we got there, it was 8:30pm and the show was supposed to start at 8pm. They were delaying the start waiting for the rain to clear up!

As we finally arrived at the venu, they scanned our tickets and as we walked in we saw that the staff was handing out ponchos to all of the concert goers. How nice of them, right? Well, yes, but that's when it got kind of weird... Nora explains it perfectly here and here.

Finally Stevie came out and told the crowd that he just couldn't play in the rain, but that he would be back the next night (tonight) to play the show. So we're going to give it another try and hope that we can get to the venue faster tonight. Wish us luck!

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Chicago Half Marathon 2007: Mission Accomplished

Yesterday I ran in the Banco Popular Chicago Half Marathon. That's 13.1 miles in case you were wondering. I've been trying to break the two-hour barrier in the half marathon now for some time, and up until now I always came up short...until yesterday!

I finally broke through that barrier, and I did not just squeak by. Here is my result from the race:

Name: Kevin Poulsen
Bib Number: 4123
Time: 1:56:59
10K split: 57:30
Pace per mile: 8:55.3
Overall place: 2300 out of 10,118 finishers
Gender place: 1510 out of 4157 males

Not too bad at all considering that I had some really bad back pain the day before the race -- I could not even stand up straight! Thankfully it loosened up enough that I was able to run on Sunday and finally break through that two-hour wall.

Now it's a few more weeks of training runs and then I can cruise through the marathon on October 7.

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Countdown to Another Race

My second race of the summer is taking place on Sunday morning. I'll be running the Chicago Half Marathon which begins and ends down by the Museum of Science and Industry. This will be the fourth year that I've run this race, and hopefully it will be as fun as it has been in the past.

Right now it's raining here in Chicago, but hopefully by Sunday morning it will be cool, dry and not humid! After this race finishes, there is only about a month to go until I take to the starting line to run in my fourth Chicago Marathon.

Only one more month of training runs...

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A Bittersweet Morning

My commute to work this morning took about 90 minutes. For reference, according to Google maps, I live 8.8 miles from my office and the travel time by car should be 18 minutes (up to 25 minutes in traffic). However, I take the CTA, thus the extra 60 minutes of commuting time.

Anyhow, today I took the Brown line and tried to transfer to the Red line, but there was some kind of backup and the Red lines were "running express with immediate followers behind". That is CTA code for "the trains haven't been running and therefore the stations are totally backed up with people so good luck trying to get onto a train." So instead of fighting through that, I decided to resign myself to the fact that my commute would be longer than normal again and I jumped back on the Brown line.

Now the good part of the morning: After riding the Brown down into and around the Loop, I left the train at Randolph and stopped at the Intelligentsia cafe. I'm now enjoying what may possibly be the best iced soy latte that I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying. Mmmm-mmmm-mmmm! So at least some good came of the morning madness.

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