Pursuit of Happiness

Chase well!

Happy Easter!

And Yet Another . . .

. . . Merry Christmas!

Pearl Harbor: The Real McCoy

"A day of infamy," said President Franklin Roosevelt about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. (On a documentary, a surviving sailor recalled his feelings less poetically: "Holy smokes! Those are Japs! This is the real McCoy!") Reams have been written about what FDR knew and when he knew it. As the United States had broken the Japanese diplomatic code, there was speculation that the president deliberately withheld knowledge of impending attack from the military so as to use the bombing as an excuse to enter World War II.

But we were already fighting German U-boats in the Atlantic. Not to mention that a Japanese mini-sub was sunk inside Pearl Harbor by one of our ships hours before the aerial assault. Mostly we battled a mindset that said, despite two years of war all around us, we'd be just fine.

December 7th changed all that.

Happy T-Day!

A brisk run, writing, some phone calls to friends and family then off to the in-laws for chow and the Southern Cal game.

At some point this weekend, my darling wife and I will sit down to watch Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Starring Steve Martin and John Candy, this film is our Thanksgiving favorite. Released in 1987, "Planes" celebrates its 20th birthday. Next year, it can buy liquor.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween!

A fine holiday, despite the fact that we haven't had a child ring our doorbell in 11 years. (Our local hills are steep.) But that doesn't stop my wife and I from buying treats and eating them all up. In fact, at this point, we would resent trick-or-treaters. Greedy little goblins!

July 4 5K

Broiling heat up in Santa Clarita, as I waited to implement Step 2 . A light warm-up before the race left me dripping sweat. Felt a bit nervous as I'd only run once without walk breaks and didn't want to reinjury myself.

Gun sounded and off we went. The 5K followed a very festive, patriotic course along streets decked out with American flags for a parade later that morning. I latched on to several runners who looked more out-of-shape than I and let them pace me. They ran the first mile in 7:58. I slowed down and then hung on to finish in 25.04. This is a contemporary PR, a hair better than the 5K I ran in March .

Today's result was most gratifying since I've only been running again less than a month with zero speed work. Losing weight helped. (Since I committed two months ago, I'm down to 207) And a fairly flat course didn't hurt either.

A bit o' barbecue today with my darling wife, in-between working on a script.

A jolly 4th of July to all!

Happy Easter!

Away to visit my darling wife's family somewhere in Central California. We'll be having Easter dinner by the sea. Back soon!

And a very . . .