eek. where the hell have I been? Here’s my catch-up post:

steps: average of around 13000 per day

I listened to the 8-part Pimsler set of beginning French tapes, and I don’t remember how to say much right now, but my ability to understand spoken French has improved. Est-ce vous comprenez l’anglais?

Now, I’m listening to the Pimsler beginning Brazilian Portuguese tapes. Com licenca. Como vai? Eu n�o entendo.

steps yesterday: 15700

Just finished listening to a tape of some cheeseball celebrities reading poems by Walt Whitman. The poems were in chronological order, and represented the whole spectrum of themes…from “Now I’m going to be a great poet” to “I like women (and men too?)” to “I love America” to “Abe Lincoln is Dead” to “I’m Dying”.

I didn’t know Walt was gay…but I don’t know how you’d not know that after reading (or listening to) some of his poems. But, then I thought that he was just talking about how he loves Man…as in people. But, then I googled “Walt Whitman gay” and there were tons of results. There’s even a book about Walt Whitman being gay–Walt Whitman: A Gay Life.

steps yesterday: 11800

steps yesterday: ~7700

not much walking yesterday. Went to San Mateo and had lunch with Dave and Audry. Their son is crazy smart. He wants to build a machine to “transport you into cyberspace”. He says that you’ll have a camera that takes a picture of what’s behind you, and that will be projected onto the front of you to make you look invisible, and a camera in front of you that will take a picture that will be put on the computer screen. I don’t know what practical application this has, but it’s fascinating that he’s 6 and coming up with this stuff. He also kept saying “the Web is the key.”. I wonder if he just heard that from his dad.

steps yesterday: 10801

traveling…Issac’s 3rd birthday, meeting with Carlon. bought a set of cds for listening to while driving…”Beyond Mozart”. Pretty good course on music appreciation.

steps yesterday: 10617

Finished A Walk in the Woods today. Bill and Stephen walked a couple days in Maine, then decided to quit after Stephen started drinking again, got lost, and just generally messed up everything. Jeez.

I got to thinking that I would have a very hard time with hiking like that. Mostly because I really hate heights and being near cliff edges, and I’m positive that there would be situations like that on a hike through the mountains. I’m not very confident in my ability to not fall over at any moment–especially if I was carrying a 50 pound pack on my back.

So, bottom line is that I want to do some hiking, but on level ground or maybe over gently rolling hills with plenty of room on both sides of a wide path in case I fall over.

steps yesterday: 11250

maybe I’ll write something later. I need to go watch the trailer for Fahrenheit 9/11 now!

steps yesterday: 19217

no more leftover hotdog buns for me. back on the diet.

Bill talks about the strange american relationship to nature, in which nature and civilization are thought of as separate. He talks about how the people who take care of the AT are obsessed with keeping people away and keeping the trail going through nothing but wilderness. He contrasts this with hiking in Europe, where trails go through small towns and farms.

I sort of sympathize with the “all wilderness” people, in that I don’t know if I’ve ever actually had the experience of being in total (or near total) wilderness, and I’d sort of like to know that it’s still out there, even if I don’t particularly want to experience it right now.