Bathroom and T-Shirt Update

The Running With Blue Sponge t-shirts arrived today. I am modeling
one while sitting on our new shower bench. The shirts came out great.

The bathroom is still not finished. Earlier this week they said they
would be done by tomorrow, but then they didn't come yesterday because
of the weather. They are still tiling. I hope they will be done next
week.

How to Watch Live TV on Your iPhone: Slingbox

This was posted a few days ago by Chris Pirillo on his Web site at http://chrispirllo.com --

"One of the pieces of hardware that I love the most is my Slingbox. A Slingbox lets you watch and control your television through the Internet. I was using the Slingplayer on my Windows Mobile device, but now I’m using the iPhone. There wasn’t anything available for the iPhone, until now!

It’s still in Beta, and hasn’t been released outside of the company yet. However - it’s working!! Soon we’ll be able to use this on our iPhone, folks! Mark demonstrated how it works, and how well it works for me during Macworld.

They feel that they have introduced some sexy controls for the iPhone. When changing channels, there is about a four second buffer, which isn’t bad at all. They have instituted a “favorites” area, which allows you to quickly change channels to whatever it is you love to watch the most. You also don’t have to minimize the video space in order to access your controls, which is great!

Right now, it only works in landscape mode, but that makes sense. They plan to incorporate video-changing mode in the future. They are shooting for release yet this quarter, before the end of March. It will, of course, be available in the App Store, for around the $30 price range! Stay tuned, and be ready to finally control your TV through your iPhone!"

Darwin Day is Around the Corner

Darwin Day is February 12, just 2 weeks from tomorrow. Have you made your Darwin Day plans yet? Click here to go to the Darwin Day Web site for lots of information about events and celebrations going on all over the world. There are currently 300 events scheduled in 31 countries for Darwin Day 2009. There is also a countdown clock on the Darwin Day Web site.

I am planning on attending a lecture called "Darwin at 200, Human Nature at a Few Million, A Myth Dispelled" in Arlington, VA. You can access the event Web site by clicking here. The lecture will be given by Dennis K. McBride, Ph.D., Academic President of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. This talk first reviews some of the least known but important elements of Charles Darwin’s portfolio as he published “Origins” in 1859, and “Descent of Man” in 1871. (For example, Darwin was, fortunately for us, very prone to sea sickness.)

Poll numbers show that a significant proportion of today’s population does not accept Darwinism as applied to humans. Darwin foresaw and actually embraced this resistance. More importantly, a significant proportion of adults, including academics, accept human evolution but eschew the idea of a DNA-supported (i.e., not genetically determined) “human nature.” At least three evolved characteristics of human evolution make the species very different from its closest relatives: the opposable thumb, bipedalism, and the encephalized brain (which increased in size by a factor of 3 over the past few million years).

The lecture is being sponsored by the National Capital Area Skeptics. It will be held on Saturday, February 14 at 1:30 p.m. at the National Science Foundation, Room 110 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA. Happy Birthday Charlie!

New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest

I try and enter the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest each week. I have never won or even been a finalist, but I still persevere. My captions may be a bit outside the box for them, or perhaps they just aren't funny. My caption for this cartoon is below:

"Good Lord, I hope this prostate exam goes a bit smoother than the last one."

Any other ideas out there?

2009 Goals Progress Update

I didn't make any New Year's resolutions this year, but I did set five goals for the year (there is a difference in my mind). They are listed on the side bar of this blog. They are to weigh less than 165 pounds, run two marathons, read/or listen to 24 books, complete the Rosetta Stone for Latin American Spanish, and post at least 4 to 5 times a week on this blog.

What prompted this posting is that I worked out today. I have had trouble with motivation to work out lately. The last time before today that I worked out was a week ago Friday. I didn't work out at all last week. Also, I've been eating terribly. The holidays were a candy bonanza at our house. We went through a lot of sweets and it is starting to show on the scale. I weighed myself today after my workout. Today I weighed slightly more than 186 pounds. I can no longer fit into my 34-inch waisted pants. That means I don't have too many clothes that will fit. I'm down to about three pairs of pants. I've decided to stop the insanity. No more sweets. I need to eat better and work out more regularly. I will do better starting today.

The one goal I have been exceeding at is the blogging. I have blogged everyday so far in 2009. I can't promise that will last forever, but it's something. The other goals aren't going so well. I haven't looked at the Rosetta Stone software since December. I started reading two books, but haven't finished either one yet.

I still plan on running the two marathons this year however. The first one I'm aiming for is the Delaware Marathon on May 17. Delaware will be my fourth State, counting DC. Once I run a marathon in 10 different States, I can join the 50 States Marathon Club. Since I've run the Marine Corps Marathon twice now, I can count Virginia as one State for one race and DC as one State for one race. I also ran the U.S. Air Force Marathon in Ohio. I am planning on running another marathon in the fall, but I'm not sure which one -- I'm thinking about Portland, ME, in October; Baltimore, MD, in October; or Philadelphia, PA, in November.

Whichever one I run, I will be carrying my trusty blue sponge.

Dance Monkey Dance!

Here's an interesting slide show -- made by a monkey.

100 Facts About Me Contest -- Win a Free T-Shirt

This is another installment of the 100 Facts about me. This week there is an actual real prize for guessing which fact is not true -- a Running With Blue Sponge t-shirt. Below are 11 "facts" listed that pertain to me, but only 10 are true. Can you guess which one is a lie? Next Monday, I'll post 10 more facts and one non-fact next and disclose which one of the items was false. If more than one person guesses the lie correctly, there will be a random prize drawing for the t-shirt among the correct guesses. If nobody guesses correctly, then that will be just sad. Each person may only make one guess. Leave a comment or send an e-mail to

RunningWithBlueSponge@gmail.com.

The false item from last week was #9. I never won $5,000 in any lottery game. The other 10 items I listed were true.

Here's the fourth list of 10 facts and one non-fact:

1. I've had pet gerbils.

2. I took tap dancing lessons, and danced in front of hundreds of people.

3. I've written a country music song.

4. Shane and I own about 5 acres of land in Maine, where we plan to eventually build a house and retire.

5. I was briefly in the Barry Levinson movie Diner, filmed in Baltimore.

6. I have skied at ski resorts in Maine, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and New Mexico.

7. The first real concert I ever saw was REO Speedwagon, and I had won the tickets from a radio station. Survivor was the opening act.

8. I ran my first marathon in 1998 to raise money for AIDS charities and received just under $4,000 in contributions.

9. I did an internship during my last semester in college with the Baltimore News American and I wrote two front-page stories. The paper went out of business shortly thereafter.

10. I helped digitize maps used in the first Gulf War.

11. I buried a man in a cemetery while his young son watched.

You're So Vanity

We went to the Home Depot Home Expo today to reconsider our bathroom choices. This is the vanity that we already bought and is presently sitting in the box along with a bunch of other junk in our living room area. Shane is concerned we won't have enough storage, because we won't have a medicine cabinet. He was also worried that the toilet won't be pretty. We later went to Macy's and stocked up on some lush, white towels.

Sent from Mark's iPhone

More Pictures from Game Night at Archer's

Shane and I had a great time visiting with Archer and the Boyfriend. We ate Pizza Hut thin crust pizza and drank lots of great wine.

We celebrated the Boyfriends 45th birthday, though he seemed surprised he was that old. Archer made a delicious chocolate cake and gave him some beautiful wine glasses.

We played Cranium Party Playoff, a new game the Boyfriend had given Archer for Christmas. We played twice and I won both times. We then played a game I got for Christmas, Smart Ass. I won the first game and Shane won the second.

We then played Archer's old version of Trivial Pursuit. It was Shane and I against Archer and the Boyfriend. It was neck and neck, but Archer and the Boyfriend finally won. Go to his video Web site at http://www.archerrvideo.com/ -- he will be posting some video of the festivities there soon.

Pizza and Game Night

We're over at Archer's house for one of our game nights. Here's
Archer and the Boyfriend having pizza.

Wrecked!

I had a dentist appointment today, so I had to drive the car. We have a Honda CR-V. I guess technically it is Shane's car, since he pays for it and his name is on the title. Anyway, I stopped after my appointment to get some groceries at the Harris Teeter grocery store near our house. They have an underground parking garage. I was very happy that they were having a sale on wine. They were selling Oak Creek Merlot for 3 bottles for $10, which is a brand we've had before and like. Also, you get a 15 percent discount when you buy a case. I got 12 bottles of wine for $34.

However, when leaving the parking garage, I failed to notice this huge column behind my car and proceeded to back out of my parking place and zip squarely into the column. The tire is the only thing that contacted the column, but it pushed in the back panel of our car. Suddenly, the wine wasn't so cheap anymore. I can't wait to find out how much that is going to cost to fix. Luckily, neither me nor the wine was injured. The spare tire is now crooked and there is a noticeable dent to the right side of the tire where the metal got pushed in. Shane took the news better than expected. I thought about not telling him and then acting surprised when he noticed the damage, but I didn't want to be too Lucy Ricardo.

West Wing New Cast

I think this show will be much better this year!

Witchiepoo Sings Oranges Smoranges from HR Puffnstuf

I loved this as a kid. What was I thinking? I still love me some Witchiepoo though.

Lasagna Night Turns Romantic

Shane and I went to our local Italian restaurant for dinner tonight
where I had this lasagna with the meat on the outside. It got very
romantic for the couple at the table next to us who became engaged
soon after we sat down. She got very excited and announced the news
to all the diners in the restaurant. Then, her fiancé surprised her
by having flown her parents in from Arizona. He also invited several
more friends and family, until there were about 12 people at their
party. It's a good thing she said yes.

Bathroom Remodel Update

The tiling has begun! The floor is tiled and they started the subway
tiles on the wall. We had a shower door crisis today. The door we
wanted became unavailable. We had a conference call with the
contractor and settled on another model -- for more money of course.

Inauguration Experience -- We Were There

Shane and I walked down to the National Mall to witness the inauguration of President Obama. It was cold and crowded, and we didn't see much --the top photo shows the closest screen we could see -- but we were there. We could hear what was going on. We managed to get on the Mall near the Washington Monument. Just getting on the Mall was quite difficult. We climbed over barriers and squeezed through an area where they had moved a portable toilet. The crowd was so tight that it was difficult to lower my arms after waving my "We Did It" sign that we got from someone handing them out on our way into the crowd. Below is a collection of photos I took, mostly crowd shots. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Where Shane Met Barack Obama

Shane shook Barack Obama's hand outside this Dunkin Donuts on DC
primary day. They have some photos on their wall of that day. We
stopped there on our way to the inauguration for coffee and hot
chocolate.

Bystander's Reaction to the Inauguration Rehearsal

This was just the rehearsal on last Sunday! Multiply this by about 2 million today.

100 Facts About Me, Part 3 -- Numbers 21 - 30

This is the third installment of the 100 Facts about me. Again, you may notice there are 11 items listed. That is because one of the items is not true -- the other 10 are true. Can you guess which one is a lie? Everyone that guesses correctly wins a brand new car*! (Don't forget that sometimes I lie.)

I'll post 10 more facts and one non-fact next Monday and tell which one of the items below is false next week.

The false item from last week was #1. I have never been engaged to a woman. The other 10 items I listed are true.

Archer, of Archer Radio, guessed the item about me having plastic surgery was the false one. I have had plastic surgery, but I'll explain more about that another time.

Greg guessed the false item was the one about the forest fire. The fire wasn't as bad as it could have been. I was a bit of a pyromaniac as a child and I was playing with matches in a woods. It was fall and there were dry leaves everywhere. The leaves caught on fire and started to spread fast. Luckily, my grandmother saw the flames from across the road, and amazingly, she and another woman she was visiting with were able to beat the flames out before there was a disaster. I'm not sure why, but my grandmother never told my mother about this and never really punished me for it. She may have felt guilty for allowing it to happen. Anyway, that was my closest call with fire.

CHM guessed the Clorox bleach story was false. As a child, (prior to the forest fire) I was laying on the floor near the washer and the bottle of bleach was beside me. For some reason, I lifted the bottle of bleach up and turned it upside down over my face. The cap was apparently very loose or only sitting on the top of the bottle and it came off and bleach splashed on my face -- a small amount which I swallowed. I wasn't very happy, but I lived. It wasn't as bad as having a mouse run up the inside of my pants. I still get the heebie-jeebies from that.

Here's the third list of 10 facts and one non-fact:

1. When I was a supervisor at a previous job, I had one of my employees arrested after I discovered he was exposing himself to little girls.

2. I have been diagnosed with a heart murmur.

3. As a child, I underwent a medical procedure several times that used radium-tipped rods -- the size of knitting needles -- stuck up my nostrils, which were supposed to shrink my adenoids.

4. My neighbor Kirby and I caused my sister's arm to get broken.

5. I am a certified SCUBA diver and have seen sharks in open water while diving.

6. I have shaken the hands of both President Clinton and Vice President Gore.

7. I sang tenor in my church choir.

8. I have walked on the Great Wall of China.

9. I won $5,000 on a scratch-off lottery ticket.

10. I've been a member of both a volleyball league and a bowling league.

11. I am a Community College graduate.


*Brand new car prize is restricted to imaginary and/or fictional characters.

Diversity's Not Just a Slogan

At the Lincoln Memorial concert today, I snapped this shot of a girl
with an HRC sticker on her hat, but just now noticed the guy in the
turbin in the foreground. Though there may have been fewer older
white men at this event (even if you count me) than were at W's
inauguration events, I saw lots of not only African Americans, but
also Hispanics, Asians, and a few of us old white guys... Actually,
just me and Joe Biden. Oh, and the guy in the beret and the old guy
next to HRC girl. That's 4.