Rain is to be expected in Portland, right? Grey, mist, rain, that's all you hear about. But lobstah Portland? They get the rain too?! Apparently. I spent a week in Maine and all I saw was rain. Seriously. Even when it stopped raining, it was still somehow raining.

35:51 10K and a top-ten finish. Not a bad day on the streets of Brooklyn!

The Bed Stuy Restoration 10K lived up to Rusty's advance billing: very fun. There was even a bit of ironic joy in the post-race puking. Just a bit though.

San Francisco. Dresden. Tennessee. Belgium. Texas. Brooklyn.

Mix well, serve over ice, and you're looking at one heckuva weekend.

JUST as I took this picture of Hamilton Park in Jersey City, a kid, he couldn't have been more than about 5 years old, tripped while playing with his friend. As soon as his hand hit the ground, he mustered the loudest "FUCK YOU" that his lungs could handle. The entire park stopped and looked at this kid, even the hiphop kids gathered under the gazebo. He just sat there with a defiant look of fear, unsure of what he just did. I look at the kid and go "I'm not even allowed to say that". I look over at his dad and he just kinda smiles and throws up his arms like "what's a guy to do"?

Inside the old Central Railroad Terminal of New Jersey. The terminal reminded me more of a greenhouse than a vestige to industry.

A 5:30am wake-up call got me headed out to Newark for the Claudio Reyna 5K. It was billed as an all-star race, but I don't think they got the turn-out they were looking for. Nor were they truly prepared to manage an all-star race: no bag check, no course description, no mile markers, etc.

The Noguchi Museum. Floored.

Confronted with a room full of large rocks when I entered, I was determined to not treat this with the same level of indifference I do with most sculpture (I paid $10 to see this!).Walking through the gallery, the formless took on form and character. Each piece became something completely different with each new angle. Within one sculpture, I would see five different works. Unbelievable.

Because we make ice cream sandwich donuts. WITH powdered sugar. And you don't even have to go to a state fair to find one.

Boom.

Staten Island. That's right. I did it. All of it. From St. George to T-Ville. 40 something miles on the bike. And I made it back without bronzed skin, nasty accents, or noticeable STDs. Consider the day a victory!

the place: gorgeous apt overlooking the intersection of vanderbilt and bergen. available september 1. the room: 7.5' by 9' (or so).

After living in this city for 5.5 years, I finally scoured up the requisite $2.50 for a PATH ticket ($5 round-trip), and made my way out to Hoboken. It's a six minute ride with the train, but something about it seemed so far away! It's a whole state away in fact. Two rivers!!!

The only thing better than a summer in the City is getting out of the City for the summer. Mike and I did just that: hitched our bikes to a ZipCar hatchback and drove out to the Catskills.It was one of those nasty, swampy, 95 degree days when we left New York. By the time we got to Phoenicia, the wind was breezing through the mountain passes, creating a perfect day for a ride.