This place
There is no possible way to fit what you might call the “backlog” wrought by my longest-ever hiatus from this site in any sort of single, at least digestible, post, so here’s what I think briefly and then a quick instagram.
1) The size is unbelievable. I covered a few hundred miles in all sorts of directions training for the Philly marathon and maybe got half of Manhattan and 1-2% of Brooklyn and the Bronx each? Will not get to cover a majority like in Chicago or Boston – or Bham for that matter – no matter how hard I go.
2) It’s a lot more diverse than any other major city I’ve seen. There are predictable elements about people, culture, food, and what not everywhere but here. Could just be the numbers game, but I think it’s something more.
3) Like Chicago or Boston, but moreso, New York is the ultimate crossroads. I’m really in the best possible place to catch up with family, old friends, long lost lovers, you name it, in the place that the most people go.
Finally) School is amazing. I had a blast 1L and wouldn’t trade it for the world. 2L kicked off with some unexpected adjustments, “but they were made,” and all is well. Still, some things like professors, attitudes, and veiled personality have been a little bit of a let down since transferring. Multiple times more pleasant surprises though.
My little obit of Mr. Jobs
Threw this together on notepad one night after studying when it happened and in a flood of emotion. Kinda late, but better than never?
I admired the man deeply because when I was going through a tough time figuring out what to do in life, his 2005 Stanford Commencement applied almost directly to me. I can’t help but look back and ask whether I followed his advice to go headlong into what you are passionate about. Honestly, in some ways, I don’t think I did. But in others, yes, and I have the presumed luxury of a number of years left to work on that.
Jobs was not plainly liberal or conservative, and his tech philosophy (i.e. whether open-source, net neutral) was much nuanced. The groupthink that afflicts tech watchers, writers and even some leaders today did not constrain him. He was above it all because he created it all.
Some say that apple products are excessively expensive, consumerist, and tyrannical. See a ton of south park episodes. Maybe they expose some of the sobering realities of society and labor markets today, and those are important to keep in mind. I doubt protesting Apple or anything will really cure or affect the issues meaningfully though. I just regret selling my ipad.
Did Steve Jobs give me a job? I think he did.
Often I talked with my friends about apple and at&t’s deal, and how one of the largest once-monopoly juggernaut american corporations was for the first time in its history in such a terrible bargaining position. Back when apple’s market cap was somewhere around 150bn, we looked to the then existing struggle for apple’s to pass at&t’s and saw that tension which has since been resolved to the tune of a 180 billion dollar excess. Jobs was undoubtedly responsible for that and further responsible for the added value that at&t enjoyed – value that let them hire a lot more people and focus on new projects.
Cheers Steve. I should read your book.
TDF Stages 17-20: Alpine Drama and ITT Magic
Cadel Evans stormed Grenoble and took yellow from Andy Schleck after Schleck had yellow for only one day. But the three Alps stages that won Schleck the maillot jaune were a story of their own.
Funny then, how the apparent battle that unfolded up there just looked like it was between Schleck and Contador. Contador made his surprise attack on the relatively flat 16 and took back some time. He and Sanchez burned the entire field on the mountains of 17 but were caught by most all of them by the line. And Schleck’s failure to keep up with that attack was a huge surprise, suggesting he might be spent. It’s not often that Andy Schleck can’t match an attack.
That was not the case though. Two epic stage performances followed – a 60km attack up the second of three HCs for Schleck on 18, and a double attack held almost all the way to the end by Contador on 19. Those two riders certainly stole the show, but the other players were just as impressive as well. Maxime Monfort and Joost Posthuma’s supporting roles for Schleck on the stage 18 win exemplified teamwork. Frank Schleck’s savvy scouting, positioning and final attacks showed his skill. Thomas Voeckler’s ravaging attempts to maintain yellow paid off unexpectedly until the bitter end. And obviously Cadel Evans’ leadership efforts to catch up to the breakaways when no one else would work earned him a GC win.
As always, the scenery was absolutely stunning. Stage 18′s stomach churning HC-HC-HC chain was a great homage to the hundred year anniversary the tour paid the Alps this year. Discovering the Alpe d’Huez – not covered in last year’s tour – was definitely a highlight of the tour for me. Here’s, like, a third of it:
So Evans needed to gain 0:57 on Schleck after all the mountain mayhem. All the pre-race commentary predicted “a toss-up,” “50/50,” or a “we won’t know til the end.” Perhaps this ambivalence all accounted for the assumption that yellow would give Schleck a nitro-boost, but that was not how things played out. Cadel burned up the course with the second best time. Brothers Schleck did not give a bad performance. On the contrary they took around 14th and 15th each. Andy, however, was spent earning the lead in the Alps.
So congrats to Evans on grinding through the mountains heroically and blowing the TT out of the water, earning him and Australia their first TDF win. Versus put on yet another great production. Don’t miss the brilliant, ceremonial Stage 21 (Paris) tomorrow, not just for Paris’ beauty but also to see some inspiring sprint finishes. It should come on about 4 times, couched between outdoor extreme sports and Indy-car racing.
Bottom Lines
-As always, I want a bike badly. I think I’m going to get a rideable cheapo bike to ride to class and for cross-training
-The Vuelta a Espana goes down from 8/20-9/11. I don’t think all the big names will show up, but I bet Spain looks nice. Check out Universal Sports’ viewing guide.
-I didn’t experience the sheer amazement that came from watching a complete road race from start to finish for the very first time oh my because this time was my second. But I knew what to look for, could recognize riders, and soaked up the scenery all the same. Hope this race will thus give a little boost to my endeavors both athletic and otherwise in the coming months like it did last year.
TDF Stage 14 – Will Voeckler win it all?
I’ve missed a few stages this year, but the last two days have filled in whatever gaps that disloyalty has created with excitement and intensity. Thor Hushovd, a sprinter, descended into Lourdes yesterday for a decisive mountain stage win and thoroughly reminded me why the Tour is such a cool event. Thousands lining the streets of an ancient French city (wiki: it sprung up in the eighth century) is a sight enough to behold, but such a gritty athlete pulling off a truly underdog win shot from overhead multiplied the impression even more. I took an unplanned minor run in celebration.
Instead of just the end like 13, I caught stage 14 in its entirety this morning. While it wasn’t very exciting until the end, a lot of widening and narrowing between the peloton and the chases made for a fairly decent 5 hour DVR recording. The sequence of events unfolded across six climbs – two hors catégorie - with some sum of riders ahead by as many as ten minutes until the final climb. No GC hopefuls really made it out front until the Plateau de Beille, when they all took off and climbed together. Schleck, Evans, and Sanchez kept attacking but to no avail.
Jelle Vanendert, a Belgian – a nationality which Phil Liggett kept implying sucked at climbs – ultimately broke ahead and won the stage impressively. Voeckler made an equally amazing effort to keep up with all the other headline riders and keep yellow. Just look at him go (photo: steephill.tv; sidenote: steephill.tv is such a good race compilation site):
Thomas Voeckler crossing the finish of stage 14
The stage today left things uncertain and for really long races like TDF I think that’s best. Seven stages remain: a couple flat, a few through the French and Italian Alps (cannot wait), a TT, and then the fabled Champs-Élysées. I can almost pronounce that.
Get a load of the sterile but charming fem. commentator on letour.fr‘s daily race recap videos. Check out their fun data on routes and locales. I was mesmerized today by a small village called Seix at the gateway to the Pyrenees was flanked by two castles Charlemagne built to protect that range. And nearly every French village and town has some kind of website that’ll tell you this kind of nerdy stuff (eg: Saint Gaudens, Plateau de Beille), so use Chrome for translate and plan a vacation why don’t ya?
TDF Stage 9 – Who wouldn’t want to bike up to here?
Today’s stage was pretty gruesome, with Vinokurov, Van den Broeck, and Dave Z all abandoned with injuries. Eight medium climbs later, Thor Hushovd lost the yellow jersey to Frenchman Thomas Voeckler, who had led a chase free from all the crashes for almost the entire stage.
After seeing all the S5 commercials, as always, I want a bike so badly. Last year, this serious desire combined with the jawdrop at the physical strength of the riders comprised a sort of shock and awe – if you will – that really helped me through the school year. I guess I’m just looking for similar motivation this year too, because I know I’m not gonna be getting an S5 for a while.
The tour comes on Versus about four times a day in little three hour bursts. I think the 8am (East) version is the live one, which sounds about right. There’s nothing wrong with going out in the afternoon during the French summer, when the riders get to go out in 76F. Maybe it’s time to change sports, move to France, and run a chateau winery on the side.
TDF stages 2-8?
I thought I’d be really good about tracking the Tour this summer, but an extra week at work and now some school stuff have interfered with that. Trying to get a lot done so I won’t be watching any more stages passively while writing cover letters!
So far it looks like the sprinters have ruled the day, but with climb stages upcoming that will surely change. I just can’t wait for the helicopter shots of the Alps and the Pyrenees.
new kicks!
Adizeros for the next six months
They are over halfway down toward the minimalist pole, they are flamboyantly hued, they are NOT a nike product(!), and they will carry me through to Philly, for which I must begin to train soon. Switching to the waffles opened my eyes to forefoot striking and lightweight race shoes, and so the “motion control” asics just wouldn’t work any more.
I’ll be embarking on another Hal Higdon plan most likely, this time with an eye toward a little bit of speed so as to climb closer to that BQ summit. Sign up for Philly too? Or at least friend me on dailymile, yeah?!
Enchanting, reliable, familiar, home.
For the last week, I’ve been in the midwest, in Chicago. This trip, unlike the neurotic pre-exam Thanksgiving trip, spanned a week and involved half or more days in the city. The sun was out for the summer, and with it lots was going on.
I reunited. Seeing some people a year or more later, and them seeing me having passed through the meat grinder was far and away the highlight of it all. Strangely, things felt much like they did before I left. Went to a lot of the same places, talked about some of the same things, and felt just as great. Not much had changed and what did was pleasant.
I gamed. Hadn’t really thought about gaming this summer, but from reading period to exams to write-on to Judge I have not had a break since Spring Break! Aronn’s holdover til the gaming royalty house made a quaint place for kicking back. I tried out Rift for a few hours (wow clone, but refreshing), played through about 70% of Demon’s Souls (warming up to it, some? will finish later), beat COD Black Ops single player (“spoiler:” crazy Russian guy’s plansto thwart America thwarted), and lost a bunch of SC2 1v1′s. My mantra for the past year had been “I am not a gamer” to try to shock non-believers into seeing how serious I was about school, but as with all self-denial it was unsustainable. Sustained for long enough, though.
I networked. A couple of days out of the week had be in the heart of the city, on the same streets and in the same buildings I gazed upon when deciding I’d take on law, chatting with BU alums and hearing their stories on how they made it out to Chicago from BU. The answer was pretty plain - good economy so Chicago firms hired out of BU – but they did give excellent advice on how to apply directly these days. The convs also demystified a lot about big law firms there and in general, and I think I made good connections with ‘em all. Oh if only.
I was proud. Last weekend was gay pride weekend across the country, and I had a lot of fun celebrating with my friends. As planned, I visited the market in Boystown and witnessed the hot mess on the El. I was also anticipating a fun and high intensity ”Proud to Run” 10k on Saturday morning (49:10/7:55/PR!!!, and beautiful). But I didn’t plan to go to Laura’s landlord’s “woman only” post-parade bash. It, and he, was INTENSE!
Esvan and Richard celebrated their first anniversary from last year in Vancouver too, so the whole thing of the weekend was warming.
I answered. Finally, my journey embraced the question: “do I still love Chicago?” The answer came easily – a quick and strong yes. Being away for so long clouded my feelings on the matter, but the city’s charms were too much. “All things good of the earth flow into the city” indeed; I have a lot of friends waiting for me here. So I have a believable narrative – “ties” they call it – to convince employers I’m genuinely interested in staying. If it calls out soon, I will go.
Tour de France Stage 1
This summer I’m going to make quick notes about the TDF. It is an ongoing dream to head out there and watch live one day, so this will be a good travel substitute. I also want to learn more about blogging, and maybe try to master the art of “recyclejournalism” in which I link to others’ content as the majority of my posts! Picking up a little French also sounds good, and if you are behind you could read the summaries. Lastly, I just need to stay occupied in July because I chose to stay in Birmingham for another month.
Stage 1 – Passage du Gois to Mont de Alouettes
Phillipe Gilbert took and kept the lead with about 0.5K left, but not before some high drama over the last 10 miles. A fan caused an unbelievable crash and set over half the peloton back by at least 40 seconds. Later, within 3K, another crash, and only those who were ahead of both would have a shot at the finish. Cancellara went ahead first when Gilbert responded brilliantly and took it home.
I’m going to keep watching Versus and see if the coverage improves a little from today. Maybe the live broadcasts will show more of the race and less pomp. If not, I’ll look into the $29.95 app that NBC is pushing this year, and hopefully get to catch more of it all. Here are some decent links to get acquainted with the race and look more in depth into what happened today:
Official Tour site - http://www.letour.fr/indexus.html
NBC’s $29.95 tour tracker and video (new this year, but Radioshack’s for Tour of Cali was incredible) - http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/42363489/ns/sports-cycling/
Great resource with lots of relinks – http://www.steephill.tv
What this spring meant to me.
Almost everything I did this semester was new and fantastic. Sparing myself, and you, any flourish:
WROTE AND ARGUED A BRIEF
LEARNED TRESPASS TANGIBILITY, and other law
EXPOSED TO SOME SWELL MUSIC
FIRSTED NEW YORK
RAN A LOT
FOUND A LITTLE LIFE OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL
GOT OUT SOME MORE
RAGED ON EXAMS
SAID BYE TO BOSTON
No matter what happens in a couple weeks, this spring rocked my world in very good ways. Started the job this week, but that doesn’t belong here.