hello 2017

Books Read:
1. Mister Pip — Lloyd Jones

Kilometres Ran:
week one — 66.6

I’ve never really been a big fan of Dickens and yet there were moments when I was reading this that I thought that maybe I should revisit and then I quickly came to my senses, usually whilst glancing at my to read pile. I don’t think that I’ll ever get to 95 books in one year — unless I’m retired or bedridden or something — but it’s not for lack of material. I’m sure I acquire nearly 95 books per year, which means I’ve a lot of catching up to do.

It seems like the sort of thing that I would do on purpose: running exactly 66.6 kilometres in a week, but I can only claim coincidence. I had this friend once, lets call him Kevin. (Is it lets or let’s?) He was raising money to go spread his good Christian homophobia at some good Christian (i.e., definitely Protestant, ahem…) commune in Ireland. We were out for coffee, arguing about imaginary friends, and he told me about how a sponsor reneged and he prayed and a new sponsor came out of nowhere and sponsored the exact amount that the reneger reneged. A true miracle, if I ever heard one. I walked home questioning virtually everything that I didn’t believe in and stopped for groceries. Or maybe it was wine. I don’t recall, but I do very clearly recall that it came to $13.34 and I paid with a $20 bill. You do the math. Suffice it to say, I’m not going to hell because there isn’t one.

I was called an asshole. So resolutions are on point. I was out for a run and as happens all too often I was in a crosswalk and the person driving perpendicular to me decided that I’m not really a pedestrian because I’m not walking, obviously. So I punched the luxury SUV as it went by. So, yeah, it was close enough to me that I could punch it. Why waste an opportunity like that? Anyway, the person driving yells out the window, “Asshole!” And then, just to completely confuse me, yells, “Do that again!” Wait, what? Okay. So from now on I’m going to punch every vehicle that tries to make me into its hood ornament while I’m in a crosswalk. And if anyone asks I’ll say because lux SUV driver said to.

week fifty two

Year in Review!

Books Read!
I did not read 95 books. I don’t think that I will ever read 95 books in one year. Even if they are all poetry books. I’ll keep trying though. Here’s the complete list of books I read this year. Or in the case of one or two titles, mostly read.

1. Fifteen Dogs — Andre Alexis
2. Clean Sails — Gustave Morin
3. God in Pink — Hasan Namir
4. The Weather — Lisa Robertson
5. Submission — Michel Houellebecq
6. Magenta Soul Whip — Lisa Robertson
7. Burqa of Skin — Nelly Arcan
8. species branding — Danielle LaFrance
9. A Sport and a Pastime — James Salter
10. Poetryworld — Louis Cabri
11. Pillage Laud — Erin Moure
12. Open City — Teju Cole
13. Airborne Photo — Clint Burnham
14. Open Text: Vol 1 Ed. Roger Farr
15. The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner — Alan Sillitoe
16. Martin John — Anakana Schofield
17. IKMQ — Roger Farr
18. Transmitter and Receiver — Raoul Fernandes
19. The Motorcyclist — George Elliot Clarke
20. Men Explain Things to Me — Rebecca Solnit
21. Lemon Hound — Sina Queyras
22. The First Bad Man — Miranda July
23. Erec & Enide — Amy De’ath
24. The Shadow of the Wind — Carlos Ruiz Zafon
25. For Your Safety Please Hold On — Kayla Czaga
26. The Apothecary — Lisa Robertson
27. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running — Haruki Murakami
28. The Hatch — Colin Brown
29. The Trouble with Brunch — Shawn Micallef
30. M Train — Patti Smith
31. Ticknor — Sheila Heti
32. Pound @ Guantanamo — Clint Burnham
33. Poverty Creek Journal — Thomas Gardner
34. Serpentine Loop — Elee Kraljii Gardiner
35. Ignite — Kevin Spenst
36. The Elegance of the Hedgehog — Muriel Barbery
37. Jackals and Arabs — Franz Kafka
38. The Men — Lisa Robertson
39. Cinema of the Present — Lisa Robertson
40. Oryx and Crake — Margaret Atwood
41. The Queue — Basma Abdel Aziz
42. Mercenary English — Mercedes Eng
43. The Strange Case of Rachel K — Rachel Kushner
44. Injun — Jordan Abel
45. Davie Street Translations — Daniel Zomparelli
46. Guapa — Saleem Haddad
47. Installations – Nicole Brossard
48. Hysteric – Nelly Arcan
49. The Missionary Position Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice — Christopher Hitchens
50. In the Garden of Beasts — Erik Larson
51. XEclogue — Lisa Robertson
52. Tropic of Cancer — Henry Miller
53. Once in Blockadia — Stephen Collis
54. H is for Hawk — Helen Macdonald
55. You Are Not So Smart — David McRaney
56. Wenjack — Joseph Boyden
57. Yellow Dog — Martin Amis
58. The Woods: A Year on Protection Island — Amber McMillan
59. Friendly + Fire — Danielle LaFrance
60. Read This if You Want to Take Great Photographs — Henry Carroll

Insights!
Poetry books: 25
Non-fiction books: 11
Books in translation: 7
Books by women: 27
Books by straight white dudes: 18 (I put Joseph Boyden in here….)

Kilometres Ran!
I added another 39 kilometres this week, which brings my total for 2016 to 2,088 kilometres ran. I set what I believed a year ago to be a very ambitious goal and I’m really rather proud to have accomplished it. On to 2017 and 2,600 kilometres!

Insights!
Total number of runs: 162
Average distance: 12.89 km
Pairs of running shoes: 4
Fitness trackers: 2
Seagulls shat on by: 1
Flies swallowed: Lost count
Flies in eyes: None since buying hideous running sunglasses

Resolutions!
Keep doing this blog, but actually write something once per week
Read 95 books (or at least 61 books)
Run 2,600 kilometres
Start exercising above my waist
Figure out why I’m sick all the time and fix it
Complete half a dozen witchy/devily/satanic needlepoints
Learn to needlepoint

week fifty one

Books Read:
59. Friendly + Fire — Danielle LaFrance
60. Read This if You Want to Take Great Photographs — Henry Carroll

Kilometres Ran:
this week — 48.4
to date — 2,049.15

I’ve been casually looking for a decent book on photography for a long time and this is definitely the best one that I’ve come across. I found it in the gift shop on the modern art museum / architecture and design centre in Stockholm. It seems a weird choice of souvenirs, but I bought it anyway. The best part of the book is that for each tip and lesson there is a photograph that exemplifies what is being taught, but not some crap pic from iStock. Rather some of the best photographers and some of the most iconic photos. Anyway, it’s a good book and I want to take better photographs. I’m not sure it’s working but that’s mostly because I don’t bother practicing enough. PS most of the photos on here are, ahem, appropriated. I’m avoiding writing about LaFrance’s book because it is amazing and I love it and people way smarter than me have written smart things about it. You should get it though. And follow her on Twitter because she is very entertaining.

Sending the Christmas holiday in the provincial capital and cruising people’s Strava activities for running route ideas (thanks Karmen Jay). Today I ran by the legislature and over the blue bridge, forever to be under construction. It’s very cool and crisp and there’s little wind and so far no rain. I don’t think it’s cold enough to snow. I’m not sure Victoria can handle snowfall any better than Vancouver, who sucks.