Archives: December 01, 2006

My day with the Human Baton

Wednesday, 27 December 2006 01:58 PM

Things have been so crazybusy that I haven't had the chance to udpate you on my Human Baton experience last week. Here's the lowdown:

I met up with Luke (aka the Human Baton) and his transporters from Baltimore very late thursday evening, around 1:30am, at the Eat 'n Park in Somerset. We had a bit of coffee and gave them a chance to get their bearings after hours in the car, and then all three of them stayed with me at Hidden Valley.

Sometime in the dead of night, the Baltimorians slipped out the door and back across the state, leaving only a very polite note as evidence that they had been there.

Around 9am Luke demonstrated that he truly is the Running Fool, as he jumped out of bed and directly into his running gear, and headed out for a 10 mile run through the mountains. He made it safely back, showered and packed, and we headed west toward Ohio. Due to the late start we didn't have time to swing through Pittsburgh to show him the pretty rivers and bridges. But honestly I think he was probably too tired to enjoy sights anyway.

So along the Pennsylvania Turnpike we went, through the fog, skimming past farms and construction projects. We crossed into Ohio and wound our way around the Youngstown area up to Girard, to Jib Jab Hot Dog Shop. There we met Leslie and her darling daughter. Leslie had gone to extra trouble to honor the moment, in that she'd decorated the rear window of her car with the name of the website, HumanBaton.com.

Since we were still behind schedule and miles for Luke to travel, we didn't sit down to enjoy a famous hot dog. Instead, we shot a couple of quick photos and went our separate ways.

I hopped right onto I-80 headed east and was quickly home. And Luke carried on with his trip -- he's now up in New England, having spent a bit of time in Philadelphia, NYC, and along the eastern states.

You may call me "Cynthia the Winsome"

Wednesday, 27 December 2006 01:14 PM

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Her Royal Highness Cynthia the Winsome of Frogging over Womble

Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

If Bono is disappointed at not gaining a title when he is knighted, he could get one online. And it would be quite fancy.

What a fool believes

Thursday, 21 December 2006 01:04 PM

UPDATED: Just got a call -- it's on!

Tonight I'm scheduled to rendezvous with Luke Vaughn -- the Running Fool, the Human Baton -- and his Baltimore-to-Hidden-Valley driver, some time around 11pm. I last heard from him on 12/8, and we haven't actually confirmed the location for the handoff. I just heard from Luke, and he's pretty much on schedule. But the itinerary page of his trip wiki says he's en route ... and he's got a heck of a day today:

Depart Raleigh, NC: 9am, 12/21 - driver: GW **IN PROGRESS**
Arrive Richmond, VA: 1:00pm, 12/21 - driver: GW
Depart Richmond, VA: 2:00pm, 12/21
Arrive Washington, DC: 4:15pm, 12/21
Depart Washington, DC: 5:30pm, 12/21
Arrive Baltimore, MD: 6:30pm, 12/21
Depart Baltimore, MD: 7:30pm, 12/21
Arrive Hidden Valley, PA: 11:00pm, 12/21
Sleep 12/21-12/22 - bed: My Brilliant Mistakes
Depart Hidden Valley, PA: 10:30am, 12/22 - driver: My Brilliant Mistakes
Arrive Youngstown, OH: 12:00 noon, 12/22

He has my cellphone number. I assume I'll get a call eventually.

Since I haven't communicated with Luke recently, I haven't been able to confirm that we can squeeze in a side trip through Pittsburgh tomorrow. Still hoping to make that happen. In any case, I'll try to get a photo or bit of video to share with you folks afterwards.

Speaking of video, someone has created a video compilation of photos and footage from week 1 of Luke's trip. Oddly inspiring.

If you're somewhat northeast of me, and you wish you'd signed up for this fun, please note that certain legs of the trip are currently up for grabs:

Medford, MA > Troy, NY > Rochester, NY > Buffalo, NY > Guelph, ON >Woodstock, ON

Find more info and sign up to carry the baton.

Gonna make you sweat

Wednesday, 20 December 2006 12:25 AM

You wouldn't guess it to look at me, but I enjoy exercising. No, honest, it's true. Especially weight training or heading out for a little jog at the end of the day. I can still get bored though, so I keep an eye out for new twists: a funky pair of socks, new equipment, and especially a new, entertaining workout.

Lately I've been enjoying the online workouts at Nike.com: full-length, completely free workouts led by motivating, super-athletic but amazingly non-frightening trainers. Sure, they're also showing off workout gear that you can order online with just a couple of clicks, but there's no obligation to buy.

My main fave has been the Warrior Moves Cardio workout on nikewomen.com. It seems like a relatively low-key combination of shadowboxing and pilates with a thick layer of empowerment all over it. (Sample guidance from the instructor: "A warrior is someone who loves her body and her life and is dedicated to being all she can be.")

But the next day you discover that you've made extensive use of muscles all over the upper and lower body both -- muscles that you may have forgotten but that will for several days scream for attention. If you can survive a couple of workouts of Warrior Moves, you really do start to respect your body.

But as of today I have a new contender for favorite workout: the OK Go Treadmill Workout. It's available via iTunes and is sponsored by Nike, but the grand thing is that the trainer/narrator is my sweetie Damian Kulash, lead singer of OK Go. I don't have easy access to a treadmill, and I already have the album versions of all but one of the songs included with it, but I bought the workout anyway and used it as my guide for this evening's jog.

It's a fairly basic interval training workout: warmup, come up to pace, then run intervals of increasing duration with recovery breaks in between, and finally come back down. All set to the music of -- you know it -- OK Go. And through it all there's Damian, urging you to push a little harder here, take it easy there, get ready for the big interval now, etc.

And it's quite a fine workout, assuming you enjoy upbeat indie-pop music and don't mind having a cute-sounding guy say charming things to you while you run.

I assume that Nike trainers and highly paid copywriters wrote the script, but it doesn't feel terribly forced, and it is encouraging for real. I'll know tomorrow just how hard I worked, but I felt like a pushed myself much harder than I would have just running to music.

Nike has a bunch of other workouts on iTunes also -- search for Nike Sport Music for the full list. And anyone can submit a Sport iMix. Lots to choose from.

Or, if you'd rather not, you can always just enjoy the video one more time:

Have lunch with the Human Baton

Monday, 18 December 2006 11:44 PM

Things are busy here at My Brilliant Mistakes HQ, and I apologize for the even-lighter-than-usual posting.

Given that I'm very busy, it's about time for me to cram something strange and needlessly time-consuming into the schedule. Right on schedule: I've signed up to help transport the Human Baton for a leg of his cross country journey.

The story in brief: This guy Luke (aka "Running Fool") decided to spend his Christmas break crossing the country from Eugene, OR, to the East Coast and back, and depending as much as possible on the kindness of strangers. He floated the idea on the wiki of Ze Frank, and fans of Ze's show (known as Sports Racers) signed up to help.

Including me.

I offered to drive a little ways, and to have Luke stay at my parents' ski house in Hidden Valley, PA, near Seven Springs and Somerset. Luke wrote back that Hidden Valley looks very pretty (which it is) and he wanted to include it in the trip. As I read the map of the chosen route, he's going far out of his way to see the Laurel Mountains, so he must have seen some *really* pretty pics online somewhere.

I'll be meeting him and the previous driver on Thursday night in Somerset, and then we'll crash at the ski house. On Friday morning I'll drive him to Youngstown, OH.

On the way I thought we might take a slight detour through Pittsburgh, so he can see the bridges and the rivers and all the pretty buildings. (Yes, the buildings in Pittsburgh *are* pretty. Some of them. You hush now.)

We should hit downtown in time for a late lunch -- I'm thinking Primanti Bros. but am open to suggestions. Where would you take the Human Baton this Friday for lunch?

And while we're at it, would you like to join us? The schedule will have to be flexible -- according to Luke's blog of the trip he seems to oversleep often, and who knows what traffic will be like. But most likely lunch will be around noon.

If you're interested, say so in the comments or send me an email. Also, we're supposed to give him pins -- so bring a pin.

Go Luke, go!

Event: Artists with a Cause

Wednesday, 13 December 2006 04:09 PM

Artists with a Cause - Benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Photographer George Mendel is working with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on his next gallery show. This coming Thursday December 14, 2006, George will be featured with two other artists at Coby Gallery North Side, in Pittsburgh. The work of all three artists was inspired from spent in the wonderful walled city of Lucca, Italy. Was it the blue skies, the water, or maybe the wine?

Colby Gallery North Side - Directions: From the west end bridge turn onto Chateau St. Go about 2 blocks and turn left under the elevated highway (rt. 65/19) through the light and turn right, onto Franklin. Next block right onto Metropolitan St. and then a quick left on Columbus St. into the R.J.Casey industrial park office building lot.

Copyright © 2004 – 2007 Cynthia Closkey