rock over London. rock on, Chicago.

important: here is a video of the goddamn Road Warrior.

I haven’t even mentioned the half-marathon.

I ran it! that calls for an exclamation point, I don’t want modesty to be misinterpreted for vanity. I ran an 8:40 mile, which isn’t exactly blazing. no, I’m happy I actually did it. and really, it wasn’t that bad. once I started, I really wasn’t concerned with not finishing. maybe that was dumb. it became hard at mile 11, but I never really had to think about stopping out of necessity.
yes. it was nice, the whole weekend. got to putz around in Pennsylvania for a few days.
my dad is originally from Philadelphia. I have a lot of family there, and I hadn’t been up there to visit in four years. four goddamn years! Philly is only four and a half ours from here. I have poor excuses.
chiefly among them: I simply haven’t kept in touch. when I was a kid, I spent a lot of time in Pennsylvania with cousins, especially during the summer. as such, I have an imprint of Pennsylvania in my mind from my childhood. what it looks likes. its temperature, its sound. you know what I’m talking about. everyone has these impressions.
anyway, I really sunk into that while eating a cheesesteak, two hours after the race on some patio in Delaware County, and how much it looks and feels like I’ve always remembered it. very bright, and washed out.
but. downtown Philadelphia has always escaped me. grams lived in Upper Darby. my aunts and uncles out in the counties. so the run  through the city was completely new to me. prior experience in Philadelphia?I had once seen the Liberty Bell. I’ve been to the Art Museum. I’ve seen the ‘Rocky’ movies, god help me. but that’s not really knowing Philadlephia. and neither is spending a weekend there and running a half-marathon, but it helps.
and so did the Italian restaurant in south Philadelphia. god, damn, was that some good food. I don’t even remember what it was that I had, but it included pasta and sausage, and too much red wine. I had a wonderful time. looking back now, three days later, listening to Paul Simon on blast. I remember my cousin raising a toast to me, and calling me Prefontaine.
hey. I appreciate that shit.

so there I go. I think that I’ll be doing more of these.

and the Bears won! that was pretty cool, seeing them playing a decent game against Pittsburgh. we’re gonna win the goddamn division. I’m back on the bandwagon.