When I returned home from this morning’s run, Jilly asked how far I ran.

“I’m not quite sure,” I told her. “I ran through the woods for about an hour and fifteen minutes, so that’s maybe six or seven miles, but I don’t know for sure.”

She didn’t quite understand why I would run if I wasn’t paying attention to how far I ran.

I think all of this boils down to the phase of life I’m currently in. I’m getting older and I’m okay with that. I’m not chasing paces anymore. I’m not chasing mileage volume. I’m not putting pressure on myself to progress at all costs. I don’t get upset if life gets busy and I don’t have time for my daily run. There are no ultramarathons on my docket.

Things are different now.

These days I’m chasing experiences – I want a unique one with each outing, and that’s only possible if I am fully present during each outing. These days I’m chasing future experiences and a level of fitness that will keep me on this planet for a bit longer so someday in the not-too-distant future I can be active with my grandkids.

That’s a different kind of ultra, but it’s the one I’m training for these days.

Bingo. This is me, in every area of my life lately.

This morning, I went for a walk immediately after finishing my burpees. I had my Apple Watch on, and it buzzed, letting me know that there’s been a change in my health activity.

I honest-to-god snort laughed, then immediately took my watch off and moved on with my walk.¹ Of course there’s been a change, I didn’t need my watch to tell me that.

Being present is super hard, especially with the internet doing everything it can to draw me towards it. But thanks to myself skipping the internet today, I got the third corner of my garage cleaned! Only one more to go before I can really start making this area dope as hell.²

Another related observation: an interesting side effect of my desire to collect new music means that each new album has the potential to serve as the background track to this current moment in life.

There are many albums which point me to general moments in my life, not so much specific memories.

If I want to remember what it felt like to drive home from a midnight truck at Best Buy, I pop on The Presets’ Apocalypto.

If I want to remember what it felt like in the early days of dating Shanny, I’ll listen to Ombarrops by The Car is On Fire.

It’s kind of cool to see the intersection and synergy of my two collections.

Local man Paul Campbell confirmed Saturday he was raising his daughter Emma on a variety of media carefully selected to help her cultivate an appreciation for artistic quality, a move that will reportedly put the 12-year-old girl hopelessly out of touch with her generation.

Ouch. An on-point Onion article.

Of course, I do not hesistate to bump the music I want to listen to around the house, which will certainly imprint that music into my kids’ brains, but I also am trying to immerse myself in the media that they enjoy.

Recent examples include Minecraft, the TV show Jessie, YouTubers Mikey & JJ, Chappell Roan, and that “Apt” song.

When you accept that the future’s security may not come only in the form of a steady ascent up a pay scale, something shifts. You may not quit your job, but you reorient your time and professional priorities around independent people and relationships, not prestigious companies or brands. You may adjust your lifestyle, outgoings, consumption patterns, and sources of meaning so that they aren’t so reliable on a certain compensation package. You see the value of expanding your abilities and skills beyond merely looking employable online.

At least some of the work here, I think, goes back to what I wrote in November: keeping a foot in both worlds, Here and There. If, like almost all of us, you still need a high-paying job to sustain your life, then think about the idea that it might not be there forever. What are you doing in preparation for that day? What skills are you building that will be useful to others? What lifestyle are you becoming accustomed to in the meantime? And what people are you helping and investing in until that day comes?

This burpees and sit-ups challenge is the major driver in my life right now¹.

I really can’t explain it other than I feel like I don’t suffer enough, so I’m fortunate enough to be in a position where I have to force myself to suffer.

Because suffering is important. Suffering means growth, new perspectives, a fresh beginning with a renewed sense of purpose.

And it’s wild to me that Ben Gibbard perfectly articulated why I used to love ultrarunning. When will science catch up and make a surgery that will replace my meniscus?

Oh, and this quote also got me to pop pretty hard:

When we were heading out on the first leg of this [Death Cab and Postal Service] tour in the fall, people were like, “How are you going to do that? You're going to be so exhausted.” I'm like, “Motherfucker, I run 50K on the weekends! I run 30 miles for fun!”

Pretty sure I’ve shared my love for Tony Hawk on this blog before, but it doesn’t hurt to remind myself every once in a while what a stand up human this guy is.

He surfaced today in the form of a YouTube video as part of Amoeba Record’s “What’s In My Bag?” series, where famous people gather their favorite forms of media from around the store and then talk about why it’s meaningful to them.

From this video alone, I wrote down a bunch of albums that I’m gonna try bumping while on vacation next week, including:

• The Cars - Shake It Up
• The Rezillos - Can’t Stand The Rezillos
• Circle Jerks - Group Sex¹
• Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe
• Kraftwerk - Techno Pop
• Madonna - Immaculate Collection
• Björk - Debut

“That cannot be done.” Is rarely true, but it’s a phrase I’ve heard more and more from technical people without offering any rationale or further explanation. This tendency to use absolute language when making blocking statements reminded me of a useful “McDonald’s rule” that I was introduced to many years ago when deciding where to eat with friends. It goes something like this:

If I say to a friend, “I’m hungry, let’s go to McDonald’s” (or wherever), they’re not allowed to block me without making a counter-suggestion. They can’t just say “No,” they have to say something like “How about Arby’s” instead. This simple rule changes the dynamic of the suggester/blocker to one of the proposer/counter-proposer. If someone is simply refusing to be involved, they McBlocked me.

In practice, though, it’s hard to always have a suggestion you’re willing to run with, so a relaxed version of the rule is that the other person has to AT LEAST specify why not. Instead of “no” it must be “no, because”. For example, it could be “I had a burger for lunch” or “I’m banned for life after jumping on a table and demanding Szechuan dipping sauce.” This helps show that you’re not just blocking things, you understand the goal and want to move the conversation forward. It gives the other person something to work with.

I was literally thinking about this “rule” the other day and had no idea what to call it.

Ironically, I’m not sure how much I like “McBlock” as the word, but I can’t think of any alternatives. 😂

The thing is, each cycle, it happens again. New artists, new art, new weapons, new masters, new ways to crush joy into little boxes that can serve the status quo.

This time around, let us use the joy of creation to bury them. This time around, let's break the cycle the only possible way: by working for everyone, by bringing everyone along. By avoiding the fist, ignoring the invisible hand, and instead linking arms with each other to rise above.

With joy.

When someone asks if you “need” something, there’s an implicit weight to that word. Need suggests dependency, maybe even weakness. It’s the difference between someone offering you food and asking if you’re hungry. One feels generous; the other feels like you have to admit to a deficit.

So I changed the question: “What’s the most important thing I can help you with this week?”

Noting this for the future.

This doesn’t just apply to the workplace, either. I’m in an era where my friends are having their second (or third+) child, and adding more burden on them by making them decide how I can help them with their burdens feels counterproductive.

Another case: my wife’s been busy with graduation at her school. Instead of asking her how I can help her deal with organizing the caps, gowns, diplomas, and tassels for 600+ students, I should have asked her what’s the most important thing I can help with.¹

Someone took the retro Weather Channel interface and turned it into a functioning website. Absolutely brilliant.

• Bag of opened asphault patch
• Homebrewing equipment
• Gus’s mattress
• Old busted wicker patio chairs
• Old beat up patio table
• Two boxes full of paint cans and other chemicals
• Car battery for the Fusion
• Tub of … tar, I think it is?
• Carol’s old Christmas tree
• Gus’s old bike
• My old bike (that could be a good idea for the first post for that series you wanna do where you throw away stuff that is super meaningful but you wanna properly honor each item with a eulogy)
• Gus’s balance bike thing that he’s never used
• Snowblower

Stuff I'm still not sure how I'm gonna get rid of it

• Play-Doh ice cream truck
• American Girl ice cream truck
• Four growlers from Utepils (probably need to make a trip up there?)

Sharing & Caring Hands

• The foldable strollers, carrying backpack, and car seats that no longer fit your kids