Runs With Politics
“What do you think about this new law in Indiana?” The man in the white hat asked.
I was on mile 9 of the Charlottesville half-marathon. And although I had spent much of the previous week speaking about the RFRA law my home state had passed and even more time dealing with people boycotting the state (and an organization I’m a part of), I did not want to talk politics.
You know, I really don’t like to talk politics with strangers at any point in time, but most definitely not while I’m running up a hill during a half-marathon for which I only ran five training runs. Another runner near me wasn’t sure what the man…
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( 11/13: I had a typo on my time. I ran the marathon in 4:40:03 not in 4:04:03. My brother, Kyle was aghast at the typo. You see, he ran the Louisville marathon in 4:20:00 and it would be devastating to his ego if his little bro topped his time. Of course I was nursing a bum knee, the marathon was so crowded that our first two miles took us 32 minutes, and I was running with two other guys which meant that we stopped for more water breaks more than if I had been running solo. But I’m sure Kyle won’t take any of that into consideration. But hey, I’m smarter and…
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To learn about why I’m running the NYC marathon and how you can help visit http://whereamiwearing.com/…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE4G9LwB95M[/youtube] …
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Annie gave me The Look that I’ve become all too familiar with…
You’re doing what?
I saw it after college when I moved to Key West. I saw it when I told her about my plan to go to Bangladesh because my underwear was made there.
She had just returned from a full day of work and was smartly clad in her office attire. I was still in my writer’s uniform: shorts, ratty T-shirt, and barefoot. I looked like her jobless, thirty-something, live-in mooch.
“I’ve committed to running the NYC marathon and raising $3,000…”
(insert The Look)
“…for cancer.”
The look softened.
Annie knows cancer. She works at a radiation treatment center. She takes pride in smiling at patients and their families. Annie and her co-workers become part of the patients’ daily routine.
The treated are cared for….
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“What’s your favorite color?”
“Do you drive an El Camino?”
Students say the darnedest things. These were just a few of the questions I was asked when I visited the Friends School in Richmond, Indiana, two week ago. I talked for about 20 minutes, answered questions for about 20 minutes and then visited an English class,
(For the record, I don’t drive an El Camino. But why don’t they bring it back? It has all the strengths of a truck and a car. It’s like the Blade of automobiles.)
Last week I had the opportunity to speak in an auditorium in Greenville, Ohio, where I went as a student to watch others share stories from its stage. Whether presenting to grade schoolers,…
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The Ayn Rand Institute is now accepting volunteers.
From the institute’s website:
If you are unable to make monetary contributions or just want to do a little extra to help ARI, we invite you to become a volunteer!
ARI relies on volunteers to assist us with various departmental projects and with the running of special events. While we have a wonderful and very capable staff, we can always use additional help at peak times.
If the irony of this doesn’t slap you upside the head, you must not know who Ayn Rand is.
Ayn Rand is most well known for her novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. She is a champion of rational egoism: an action is rational only if it maximizes self-interest. …
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My new piece on attempting to run a half-marathon with world-class Kenyan runners at 8,000′ is hitting stations around the country this week. Listen to it now or risk never learning if I live through the experience.
I’d love for you to share your thoughts on the piece, the runners, or running in general over at the WV Report’s site….
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Captain Scott Smiley
Leaving your family isn’t easy. I leave mine for a month or two at time. That’s a tough goodbye. Each time I’m faced with it, I think about the men and women of our military. They are gone for much longer and traveling to lands far less welcoming.
Returning home is always sweet. I return with my hair a bit longer, a few pounds missing, and some great stories. Annie usually cuts my hair within a few days, a couple weeks eating dessert puts the weight back on, and I stew over the stories making them readable. It takes next to no time for me to be back to normal.
But that’s not always the…
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Here’s the deal. I don’t like hitting people up for money all the time. Many of you were kind enough to donate to my fundraising/NYC marathon efforts.
And now here I am again, a hostage, asking for more money on the banner of my blog and on this micro-site. It’s not money for me, but to help fund a documentary for Life in Abundance, which does amazing work throughout Africa. The documentary that they made last year (see the trailer below) was screened around the United States and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.
If you donate, LIA will list your name in the credits. You’ll be able to list “film producer” right next to “Spanish Club president” on your resume. How…
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As one of the top 10 living underwear journalists in Indiana, I’m always on the lookout for new under-the-radar underwear stories. And unlike those lazy underwear journalists who’ve built their careers on reviewing low-tech undies that don’t serve a larger social function or are pleasant to wear, I go the extra mile.
There’s no pair of underwear I won’t test drive.
I wish that my career path would’ve worked out better. Say, that I became a traveling journalist who went places and wrote about it like this guy. Instead I put underwear through a series of proprietary tests, including “the jumping jack,” “the barn door,” “the wedgie,” and “the marathon.”
That’s right “the marathon.” Some thought I ran the NYC marathon to help…
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