• Finished God of War 2 after finishing the first a few months back. I can now play God of War 3! Very cool (and bloody and mature) games.
• To go along with the gaming, I bought a new TV for our bedroom. Idea is I need something to entertain me while I scan family photos. Picked up a 42″ Samsung plasma for only $500…but I’m returning it for a slightly more expensive Panasonic. The Samsung makes a high-pitched buzzing sound, and it’s super annoying.
• Work on our bathroom started today, so we’ve been busy picking out a bathtub, tile, vanity, etc. We remodeled the other bathroom last year, and really hadn’t ever used it. Starting today we have to, and it’s super nice. Feels like I’m in a hotel!
• Yesterday I did 2.25 miles on the local High School’s track. It was a nice surface, but hot! I’m excited by my progress too. After my last setback, I started short at .5 miles, and I’ve been slowly adding to it. Not only is it my longest run barefoot…but my longest run ever. I also did my fastest one mile time the other day. I’m feeling pretty confident in saying that landing forefoot/midfoot can be just as good as heelstrike.
• Bought L4D2 for $11, so I can finally play with those of you that have it. Though the first time I played for any length of time, it made me motion sick. Perhaps I was sitting too close, haha.

That’s about it so far. Going to Lucille’s today for my bday. Thanks for all the birthday wishes.

Only real purchase we’re making is a bigger tent. I have a 4 person Kelty that I love (Trail Dome 4), but it’s barely a 2-person tent in reality (55 sq. ft). With having Luke, we definitely need something bigger. There are a lot of options up to about 100 sq. ft, but anything bigger and your options shrink dramatically. I ended up getting the exact same tent, just bigger (Trail Dome 6). It’s 100 sq. ft, so it’s basically twice as big, but also 15″ taller! Woo hoo! It’s a super simple two pole design (aluminum), and has nice ventilation without the fly (yet still private).

We put together a menu the other night at my sister’s. Need to get Luke his own little camping chair, and double check the propane, lantern mantles, etc. We’re doing three nights total, and after that we’re staying in San Luis Obispo on the way home!

My favorite part is that I feel like I’m putting my body in better shape. Right now I’m held back by getting my feet/ankles/calves in shape, but aerobically I could probably do 5 miles. When I first started out back in February, I could barely do a half-mile without huffing and puffing. Being able to do 1.5 miles and I’m barely breathing hard is very cool.

Doing a marathon would be really cool. Right now I just want to push myself and do as much as I can, but why not a marathon? Bad joints in the family or not, I might as well set the bar high and go for it. It might take a year or more to get there, but I can dream big.

Summer should have just the right amount of things to do. Remodeling our bathroom starting in a week. Camping in July, and Vegas in August. In between all that I plan on scanning family photos, and hanging with the boy.

Here are some photos from my newly updated room.

Went for my first run today in about 2 weeks. A couple weeks back I pushed myself to 1.5 miles barefoot (longest ever), and my feet weren’t ready for it!

I’m finding out that getting into barefoot running is going to be a sloooow process. After my very first run, my calves were super tight for like 4 days before I could even think about running. Then my next couple runs I spaced out by a few days, and I didn’t have any major setbacks. But then two weeks ago I did 1.5 miles, and I paid for it.

For the last two weeks my feet specifically have been recovering. First it was the tops of my feet. Those muscles (the few that are in there) were not happy with me. But even when they started to feel better, my ankles were hurting. I told myself I wasn’t going to do any running until they felt strong enough.

So today I forced myself to stop at .5 miles, because I did not want a repeat of the last run. I’ll probably be a little sore tomorrow, but it’s a good feeling. I’d rather my feet take months to get used to running this way, than to develop knee and hip pain from traditional running shoes.

I have no idea how long it will take before I can really push myself, but that’s what this blog is for…to chronicle that progress. Here’s hoping for a quick turn around so I can run again soon!

As for the big ones, Governor and Senate, I’m not super excited about anyone. Poizner and Whitman have both run pretty crappy campaigns. In most respects, I think Whitman is fairly liberal, but the idea of her being successful in business has me semi-hopeful she can help out the state. Poizner seems semi-better, but lots of it seems like primary shuffling just to look more conservative than Whitman. Meh. Whitman has a better chance of beating Brown, so I might give her the nod just for that. Social issues continue to be a far less important part of California’s problems, so I’m thinking of going with the businesswoman.

For the Senate, it sounds like Devore might be more up my alley, but Fiorinia is winning by a TON, so vote for whoever you want, but it probably won’t matter. haha.

Have fun!

Some info about the people that funded the “peaceful activists.”

Some great pictures from the IDF on what they found on the boat. Gas masks? Metal poles? Sling shots? I thought they were peaceful activists who only wanted to deliver goods to Gaza?

Or the more likely scenario is that they WANTED to run the blockade, and force the IDF to board them. And they got what they wanted. People that hate Israel have even more reason now. Those evil brutes…protecting their homeland from the constant terrorist attacks they live through every day.

If I was Israel, I would have done the same thing. When people in Gaza are trying to attack me on a daily basis, I’m not letting any ship in there until I truly know what’s on board.

But the big question is, if they were ONLY interested in delivering supplies, why are they busy ATTACKING soldiers as they repel down? Why not simply let them on board, and comply with the IDF procedures?

So much for being tired of arguing.

Update

Here’s another good video showing the innocent peace activists preparing to be boarded. Don’t seem very interested in peace, do they?

First, it doesn’t seem to work. I would say that 99% of discussions don’t change ANYTHING, so what’s the point? I think most of us learn many different things that inform our beliefs, but they usually get generalized. For example, if I think welfare programs do more harm to individuals than help, it’s probably based on things I’ve read in the past. But most of us, me included, take that information and have to generalize it, and recalling statistics or specific examples is difficult. So if there is any redeeming quality from some of the discussions I’ve had, it’s that I’ve had to commit specific examples to memory to support my beliefs (like the poverty level was declining leading into the great society, and after the great society it has remained stagnant). Obviously I’m not trying to get into a political argument, I’m just giving an example.

But like I was saying, it doesn’t seem to change anyone’s mind, so why even bother? Not only does it take a lot of time, but it’s a chore most of the time. Thinking about how you’ll respond to someone’s argument which is full of generalizations, personal attacks, and stupid tricks like claiming things are FAR more complicated than I could understand…it’s just annoying, so why bother?

I’d like to think that my goal for engaging in arguments was to seek truth, but the more that I see other people argue, it seems to be more about affirmation; people that argue not to find the truth, but to win and make themselves feel good. If you make big, long winded posts and never ask the other person a single question to try and understand their position better, you’re not seeking truth. You’re arguing to win, which is arguing to make yourself feel better.

But I like arguing because I feel it keeps me sharp. It forces me to understand what I believe, and be able to articulate it. And I think there’s a certain obligation to stand up for what you believe. But is it worth it? The time, the broken friendships, the frustration? I’m not sure anymore.

More impressions later.