life in jamestown

So much has gone on since my last post, it’s hard to know where to begin again. One update is that I won the fantasy basketball league championship. The game lasts from November through April but seems to last much longer than a mere 6 months. The thought that so much time was dedicated to something that leaves nothing tangible (we play for bragging rights) seems like an utter and absolute waste. After contemplating over that last sentence, it does appear to be the case. However, it is what it is…or was what it was: an excuse to visit the sports pages several times a day, another “project” to pile on top of an overloaded schedule, a source of frustration when you team plays poorly or pride when your team plays well, most importantly, though, a chance to keep in touch with friends in different places. It certainly was a marathon of a contest…

Speaking of marathons, this weekend is the Indy 500 Festival Mini-marathon. I signed up early this year so I got in the 13.1-mile race (instead of settling for last year’s 5K). Training has been sporadic, as expected, but I’ve been able to run more in training for this race than for other races combined. That does not mean that I’ll be keeping up with the Kenyans, though. “More” is a very relative term. My bases of comparison are the meager 7 total miles I put in for the Baltimore race and the 20-30 miles for Chicago (and 0 for the 5K). I just plan on setting a time to beat next year. I will need to finish the race in a reasonable time, though, because, like last year, I’m scheduled to attend a wedding in Chicago on the same day.

# posted by aynjel : 2:31 PM  3 comments

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. I can attribute much of this to my free time being allocated to maintaining my two fantasy football teams. Since both are holding second place in their respective leagues, it seems like a good time to add another entry before the fantasy basketball draft this Saturday.

This past Sunday was the big race. Race is actually used loosely in this case. It ended up as timed jog/walk through the streets of Chicago. The word race implies that there was a competition, but from my participatory standpoint, the only competition was between my will to finish and my feet’s desire for relief. A few certainties inevitably became of the race: we overpacked (snacks, drinks, signs, clothes), arrived late, and finished near the back of the pack. From a runner’s standpoint, it was fun going into and fun to reflect upon. It wasn’t as much fun during the race when your thighs are sitting on the verge of cramps and your feet are swollen and sensitive, but the experience was invigorating and enjoyable nonetheless. It’s still amazing how many people came out to see the race, despite not knowing runners. It helped that the various neighborhoods held parties that attracted more people to come out. Memorable sights included:

- groups of men in drag and dancing on stages
- runners dressed up as Kermit the Frog, Batman, and Elvis
- nursing home residents lined in the windows, waving as we passed
- people hanging out of windows and balconies yelling their encouragements
- runners of both gender relieving themselves in the alley
- a possible sighting of the runaway bride
- many vocal Kentucky fans

The days following the race were destined to be filled with physical agony. However, aside from fatigue, the aftermath of the run was fairly mild. My initial resignation that this would be my first and last marathon is giving way to mental preparation for next year’s event. Of course being 3 days removed, it is a little early to plan for that.

It cannot be understated how important it was for spectators to be out there cheering for us, both specifically and generally. THANK YOU!!! The distraction of hearing crowd noise and scanning the crowd for familiar faces made the miles fly by, even though we were traveling at a snail’s pace. I did a poor job of spotting people in the crowd who came to support us but my running partner was adept at that.

Some other observations:

- You would figure that with so many people running that there would be a lot of people bumping and jockeying for position but that wasn’t the case at all.
- There wasn’t a lot of talking during the race either.
- You really don’t appreciate bananas until you eat them after 19 miles of running.
- Physical stature was not a great predictor of finishing time.
- Sunscreen would have been a good idea.
- Proper training would have been an even better idea.

# posted by aynjel : 12:29 PM  8 comments

Nowadays, the scariest sight on the road has to be the sign publicizing the cost of gasoline. The increase over the past couple of months has been absolutely incredible. A recent article mentioned that a self-proclaimed expert believes the price of a gallon of gas will reach $5 per gallon next year. Of course, that is just the opinion of one person, who also happens to believe that the price of a gallon of gas will soar to $10 per gallon if terrorists strike Middle East oil fields. The preface of “self-proclaimed” before the distinction of “expert” adds a lot of justified skepticism to this guy’s claims. The current trend of gas prices may eventually prove him to be an insightful prognosticator, but the situation could alternatively show him to simply be another Chicken-Little nutjob, trying to weasel his way into 15 minutes of fame. Worse, though, would be that his prediction is a conservative figure in retrospect. He only stands to benefit from attaching his name to such a prediction. If gas costs $5 or more per gallon, he may get some face time on a television news show and possibly increase sales of his book on the subject. If it remains relatively stable, either nobody will remember that he said what he did (who told us that we would have flying cars by the year 2000?) or he will find some political, economic, or social event to explain why his calculation was accurate given the circumstances at the time.

On August 5, my car reached the 60,000 mile mark. It took exactly 11 weeks to travel 10,000 miles. Some elementary math skills will reveal that my weekly commute is lengthy, though I’m told that it is nothing extraordinary. Prior to the steep hike in gas prices, my biggest expense was time. A nine-plus hour workday sandwiched between two one-hour commutes takes a hefty chunk of the allotted 24 hours. With the cost of a gallon of gas pushing $2.50, however, my priorities are teetering towards taking action to conserve gas. A new hybrid car is not an option since the one I have already gets good gas mileage and is still relatively young. The next alternative is easing up on the gas pedal. Stored somewhere in the closet of my mind is the idea that traveling at a maintained speed of 55-70 miles per hour provides optimal gas consumption. Although various factors reduce my potential for speed (e.g., stock econocar, current speeding ticket, Wal-Mart tires), it is still a painful thought to imagine the parade of vehicles flying past me at a paltry 75 miles per hour. But the thought of continuing to support the gas companies at a tune of $75 or more per week is enough to set the cruise control and put on the blinders.

# posted by aynjel : 2:33 PM  1 comments

One teen was shot to death and another caught a bullet in the leg. This was the result of a fit of road rage that went out of control. In this event, though, it is not conclusive that total blame for the incident be placed upon the killer. The sad reality is that this was an avoidable situation from several fronts. The driver, presently on the lam, was driving his old red pickup truck down the highway. It was past 11 p.m. on a hot and muggy July night. He had his windows open as he cruised through a residential neighborhood. Suddenly he hears a couple of muffled thuds, followed by a sharp pain on the side of his head. He slows his car and lifts his left hand to the side of his head. Wet. He pulls his hand to his field of vision and notices a thick clear liquid with white chunks sitting in his hand. A taunting laughter fills his ears as he turns to see several boys standing among the trees, pointing, laughing, and holding open cartons of eggs. He circles the block, pulling his handgun from his center console, and automatically knows how to get his rage-fueled revenge.

The facts of the crime are there, with added details for the sake of telling the story. The teenage boys were hanging around, tossing eggs at passing cars. It was probably no accident that they hit the driver whose window was open. It provided an extra challenge to the game being played. Residents of the neighborhood report that vandalism, particularly egging of houses and cars, has been increasing recently. Some say that this kind of activity grows from boredom. In England, the citizens are dealing with another activity associated with bored youths. It’s called ‘happy slapping.’ Groups of kids will walk down the street until they come upon an unsuspecting pedestrian. As the rest of the gang records the incident with their cell phones, one or more from the party will run past the victim and smack them on the head. The video clips are then posted on the Internet or sent to their friends. This craze began as copycats imitated a British candid camera TV show where similar stunts were performed. The danger with happy slapping is that rival groups try to one-up each other and perform more violent or outrageous attacks. As you can imagine, the mob mentality can quickly turn a passing smack into an outright beating. Other crimes reportedly linked to happy slapping include muggings and rape.

The situations are similar. Unruly kids who have decided to pass time by torturing, attacking, or abusing innocent others. Who should take the blame for these teens becoming the way they are? Society is always going to receive blame from some people. To mollify this voice, one IPS school is converting to a year-round schedule and some residents see this as the answer to keeping kids off the streets and out of trouble. Others advocate increased parental responsibility in raising children to become moral and ethical adults who can make positive impacts on the world around them. Defenders of ineffective parenting turn the blame back to society for producing a world where the standard of living requires two working parents who cannot spend the appropriate time with their kids, providing media products filled with violence, sex, crude language, and declining moral values, spending less on educating and training young people, worshipping poor role models, and creating outcasts of kids who genuinely need help. Rare is the case that the blame falls on the child, though they are the ones ultimately making the decision to act. This is usually with good intention, since children are still in the stage of developing their sense of self and evaluation of right and wrong.

Is there an entity at which to conclusively point fingers of blame? In my opinion, the idea that it takes a village to raise a child means well but essentially decreases the role of the parents and puts the responsibility on society. Society, however, plays an obvious role in shaping opinions, attitudes, and outlooks. Whatever the answer, the road to correcting the problem with these bored and uninspired kids begins with someone doing something to change the situation. As for the killer, nobody made him do what he did. As an adult, his actions were self-determined. Even so, the argument will appear that this society that feeds violent images to us on a daily basis creates an environment where this action is expected.

# posted by aynjel : 4:04 PM  2 comments

An editorial in today’s Indianapolis Star reported that roughly two-thirds of students in Indianapolis Public Schools do not graduate from high school on time. More specifically, among the IPS Class of 2002, only 43% of Hispanic males, 25% of black males, and 23% of white males completed high school. These numbers seemed exaggerated or taken out of context so I did a little more research on the issue. My findings support these contentions. The numbers shift slightly when using different formulas to interpret the data but remain well below 50%. For perspective, CPS high schools have a graduation rate of 65% (1999).

What the data does not convey is the story behind the observations. Why are these kids not succeeding in school? What are they doing after their school tenure? Another article discussed these topics. It seems that this has become a way of life here for many families. Parents did not finish high school and the cycle continues with their children. Another factor is economics. It was reported that 81% of IPS students qualified for free/reduced price meals. The small sample size (six high schools in IPS) increases the impact that each dropout makes and the transfer of good students to non-IPS schools also has an effect. The social adjustment to this trend is that more celebratory emphasis is placed on eighth grade graduations, since this will be the last commencement ceremony for most of the students.

Though the situation seems ridiculous, the environment in which this is occurring is important to consider. This is a state where blue-collar work such as agriculture and manufacturing still make up a good portion of the jobs. People without high school diplomas still have options to make a living. With the high poor/poverty level, it is probably a good guess that graduating high school is not foremost on some of these kids’ to-do lists. In the long run, though, this is a horrible trend to maintain. The lack of a qualified, educated workforce will deter companies from locating in Indiana. In addition, this population is at higher risk for becoming a burden on tax dollars due to increased prison and social services expenses.

Familial cycles are difficult to change. A friend once reasoned that many African-American kids do not choose to pursue higher education because nobody told them that they could become a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer. I called BS on that but after some reflection, I see that he has a point. If everyone you know and respect have a certain way of life that does not seem wrong, if there are no role models in real life or the media to inspire you to a different path, why deviate from what is known and comfortable? Most (but not all) wouldn’t. But this is coming from someone who believes nurture-over-nature and that the media influences us more than we realize. I wouldn’t know where to begin with correcting the IPS, but I’m sure that when change occurs, it will be slow and expensive.

On a lighter note, President Bush is in town today for a visit. The closest that I ever got to seeing him in person was at the VA hospital in Baltimore. Entering into the hospital was no problem but there was no way to get near the auditorium where he was located. People lined the street outside the hospital, some with protest signs. I was a little surprised to see the size of the crowd since I thought that presidential visits to Baltimore would be a fairly normal occurrence. It probably helped that the visit occurred during regular working hours.

# posted by aynjel : 10:49 AM  6 comments

Shawshank Redemption
Somewhere In Time
Thin Red Line
The Usual Suspects
Life of Brian
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
LA Confidential

There’s Something About Mary and Pulp Fiction would have made the list except that upon multiple viewings, I discovered more about the movies than previously seen. There are movies that do meet my lofty preconceived expectations, and a few that exceed them. Included are Forrest Gump, Terminator 2, and The Waterboy. Most movies that I’ve heard something about prior to viewing fall in between these extremes.

Books provide many more opportunities for me to find gems, mainly because I do not read books on a regular basis, nor have discussions regarding “good reads” with anyone. I’m much more inclined to follow current events in a newspaper or magazine than indulge myself in the latest New York Times bestseller. I like to pretend that the reason for this is that books take too much time to finish, time that I do not have to dedicate to reading. I know that the reason has more to do with viewing reading as a task or chore rather than a leisurely undertaking. It is a pity that this opinion has been so deeply ingrained in my mind, since nearly every book that I have finished (both paper and audio) have been much better than I expected. This is a sample of the titles that I found to be captivating: This Present Darkness, Death of a Salesman, The Maltese Falcon, Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up, To Kill a Mockingbird, Prey, and State of Fear. In an attempt to “read” more, I’ve been borrowing books on CD from the local libraries. Unfortunately, most audio books in their collections are on cassette, and my car only has a CD player. This arrangement, however, will force me to eventually listen to such lengthy works as The Fountainhead, Moby Dick, and the Bible. Up next, though: The Andromeda Strain.

# posted by aynjel : 11:07 AM  6 comments