Stakeout

It was a Sunday like any other Sunday, yet different.

I don't know what had cut into my early-morning dreams — perhaps the upstairs neighbor's fourth trip to the bathroom. More likely, it was two smacks against the pavement by tightly wound newsprint encapsulated by thin plastic. The Times and the Chronicle — they were like sausages tossed from a car to the entryway of my San Francisco apartment building but without the big, meaty mess.

As it was, the building’s not much to look at: three floors of wood and sea salt from the early 1960s, awaiting the next six-point-something so the owner could have it red-tagged, collect the insurance money and sell the hilltop lot to some tech tool.

But if you squinted long enough, through the fog and between the scaffolding of the million-dollar homes across the street, there was a view of the bay. You could even see Oakland’s Coliseum, not that you’d want to see what was going on inside.

The building’s got four units, including a home for me and my dame. She’s a lithesome blonde number, straight from one of those online catalogs. Yeah, she comes across all nicey-nice, but she's an ink-stained wretch like me.

But I didn't know her history when she walked into my office 22 years ago. She had legs like Lolo Jones and a voice like Bacall — measured, asking, but already knowing the answer.

"Are you, Ron?" she said.

I didn't look up from the computer terminal on what passed for a desk underneath piles of worn-out clichés, candy wrappers, yellow sticky notes and old newspapers covered with words printed so long ago even they had forgotten why the electrons were wasted on them.

Let's just say the cleaning lady didn't give a damn; neither did I.

Dangling like the participle on my screen, I let my pen hang from my mouth as I typed.

"That's what they call me."

I slowly hit the period key, finishing my sentence but knowing I could return for an umpteenth rewrite. "Just one of many things they call me."

My eyes finally fixed on the vehicle for that voice. I grinned at the doll.

"Of course," I said, grinning, "you can call me anything you wish."

Long and short of it, about a year later, she ended up calling me "husband." I liked the job and the benefits.

Yeah, a rug-rat eventually came along — a kid named Benny, who the stork plopped on our doorstep 12 years ago. He's a good kid. I only hope he can keep his nose clean in this snot-filled world.

Call me his tissue.

That's why I was on stakeout this particular Sunday. I had some cleanup work to do.

Someone had been stealing our Sunday newspapers, our little luxury in this hardscrabble world of sound bites, “likes” and retweets. I was here to make sure that didn't happen again.

Here's the skinny: The dame and I like to read. We like to be informed. We don't like it when someone tries to get the news for free.

You see, there are two kinds of stupid — one where a man takes off his clothes and dances naked in Dolores Park; the other when he does the same thing on your doorstep. The former you can ignore — after all, it is Dolores Park — the other you're kind of forced to deal with.

All of which parks my butt on this fake-marble stairway at 4:17 in the blessed a.m., trying to keep the naked man off my stoop.

You see, I'm a journalist — not a blogger, not a "citizen journalist" — and I get paid to cover the news.

Gubbio

Close your eyes, sleep.
Inside here, it still is dark.
It is safe — maybe not comfortable, but safe.
Take advantage of the shelter.
Rest.

No, that isn't Breadman. He'll come.
And breakfast is not far off,
Now … you must sleep.
Like a child.

Listen to The Snorer.
His uneven gasps punctuating
the stale, early-morning air.
(Giggle.)
I like your giggle; it gives me hope.
Now … listen to his snores, the uneven rhythm.
Up and down.
Let it rock you to sleep.
(Giggle.)

Please. Rest now.
The day, then the nigh
will push you away,
at least until tomorrow morning.
But you have hours left here.
In shelter.
In safety.
Close your eyes.
Sleep.

Running lessons for life

• Every uphill also is a downhill.

• The wind in your face one way will be at your back as you return.

• The hill in your way at one point protects you at another point.

Shattering the myths of the modern office

It all started when the Brown sisters fell off the wall.

San Francisco's geriatric, heavily madeup and seemingly omnipresent twins -- Marian and Vivian -- were dressed to the nines, smiling broadly for the camera. Their framed photo was a fixture atop the shelf of "The Happy Box," my editor's office/reservoir for dry cleaning. Steve never really used the office as offices are designed to be used. He preferred doing his business, so to speak, in his cubicle in the heart of the newsroom.

The Happy Box was for one-on-one meetings. Those could be viewed through the glass front by anyone who walked along the office's main hallway or by anyone who peered through a mysterious side-wall window. More often than not, they also could be heard by other parts of the newsroom, in part because Steve's tenor laugh -- typically accompanied by a "Boom, baby" and a high five -- would gush through the poorly constructed walls.

If ever I was an editor again, I vowed, I'd take a page from Steve's playbook. After all, he was my best boss: understanding, enthusiastic, funny and a barking news hound, as he would say in the ads he placed for reporters. His laissez-faire style suited me to a certain degree. Having no office -- no literal or figurative walls -- equaled enlightened leadership. I still believe that.

When I did leave the newspaper to take an editor job, however, I succumbed to the trappings of the office. The publisher and general manager had it all planned before I arrived. They ordered a huge desk for my spacious office that formed a peninsula for my chair, took up parts of two walls, partially covered a window and still left enough space in the room for a nursery or a small herd of grazing cows.

When I moved to another editorship, I was set up in a pseudo-office: four walls and a door but the walls went up only about 10 feet, so anything said in my glorified cubicle could easily be heard by anyone. In one of my more angry, insane moments, I tried to strip down the walls, much to the dismay of the co-workers to whom I wanted to be closer.

"Stay where you are, Ron. Really. Please," I'm sure they thought.

When I returned to San Francisco a few years later, Steve's office had officially been dubbed The Happy Box. I know not of the origin of the name, but with Steve leaving our flock in the next week, I'll have to ask.

I tend to believe that a new editor will be someone who uses his office more traditionally, and I -- and the staff as a whole -- am not taking well to the prospects of those changes.

"Change is a function of desire," a recent corporate webinar attempted to instill in us. I believe that is not true. Change is a function of good leadership and good, honest communication. Desire will follow.

After my dad died, and I broke down while telling Steve at his cubicle, Steve led me toward The Happy Box. He turned slightly at the door with his arms out. I took that opening to hug him. I remembered the pain he shared with me when his father-in-law passed away nearly a decade earlier. But maybe I hugged him because Steve shares a lot with my brother: They're both named Steve, they're tall, lanky dudes in their 50s with a carefree veneer and a penchant for the wacky. Starting in a few days, too, they'll both be unemployed, though hardly unemployable.

Mind you, I've seen people leave The Happy Box unhappily. Myself and a real estate reporter were summoned there after we were scooped by the Chronicle on a story about the owner of the Bank of America building putting the San Francisco landmark on the market. We don't get beaten by the Chronicle, Steve would say, much less on a real estate story. How could this happen? he wanted to know. What are you going to do about it now?

I was just the banking reporter, I remember thinking, there's no way after arriving in San Francisco a little more than a year before that I had the sources to get that story. My bad, yes; my fault, no -- so I pondered more on the what-are-we-doing-to-do-now aspect.

Our real estate reporter caught the brunt of Steve's rare reproach. But that's OK; that was 2000, and The Happy Box wasn't known as The Happy Box at the time.

Actually, I focused more on Steve's picture of the Brown twins. There was something reassuring about them, dressed in the way that people would walk around town in the 1950s or '60s. They were the twins that time forgot. Getting out for the Brown twins was about the adventure, not the functional or mundane. Look your best. Have fun. Let people take your picture.

So when someone closed the door to The Happy Box a few months ago and the frame holding the photo of the Brown twins slipped off the shelf and suddenly crashed to the floor, it was the end of an era. The photo was safe, but the glass was shattered, and everyone knew Steve wouldn't get a new frame.

My bicycling - 2013

My goal for 2013 is 500 bike miles. I put in close to 45 miles in mid-July alone -- making up for lost time.

Dec. 1 6.65 (518.98) in 40:34 / 9.83 mph / 929' elevation - SportsBasement-CrissyFieldAve-Lincoln-BatteryEast-Merchant-Lincoln-Presidio-Arguello-Conservatory-KezarDrive-Frederick-Home

Dec. 1 6.91 (512.33) in 31:06 / 13.32 mph / 510' elevation - Home-KezarDrive-Arguello-Presidio-Lincoln-McDowell-OldMason-SportsBasement

Nov. 30 6.97 (505.42) in 34:41 / 12.06 mph / 844' elevation - Work-Market-Wiggle-Home

Nov. 26 4.8 (498.45) in 31:21 / 9.18 mph / 501' elevation - Grattan-Haight-Wiggle-Market-Sansome-Work

Nov. 23 15.87 (493.65) in 1:26:24 / 11.02 mph / 2,196' elevation - HawkHill-GGBridge-Presidio(LincolnBlvd-McDowellAve)-LegionofHonor-CliffHouse-GGPark-Frederick-Home

Nov. 23 9.76 (477.78) in 53:14 / 11.0 mph / 1,583' elevation - Home-Frederick-GGPark-Arguello-Presidio-GGBridge-HawkHill

Nov. 20 1.38 (468.02) in 12:29 / 6.64 mph / 364' elevation - Church-Home

Nov. 20 5.2 (464.64) in ~35:00 / ?? mph / ??' elevation - Work-Market-Wiggle-Panhandle-Church

Nov. 13 3.77 (459.44) in 25:47 / 8.77 mph / 414' elevation - Home-Work

Nov. 10 1.7 (455.67) in 15:00 / ?? mph / ??' elevation - Church-Home

Nov. 10 6.57 (453.97) in 34:50 / 11.31 mph / 658' elevation - Work-Market-Wiggle-Panhandle-Church

Nov. 10 5.35 (447.40) in 30:58 / 10.38 mph / 496' elevation - Church-Panhandle-Wiggle-Market-Work

Nov. 10 1.68 (442.05) in 8:38 / 11.69 mph / 40' elevation - Home-Church

Nov. 4 6.54 (440.37) in 36:06 / 10.87 mph / 810' elevation - Work-Market-Wiggle-Panhandle-Home

Nov. 4 6.94 (433.83) in 37:48 / 11.01 mph / 602' elevation - Work-Embarcadero-Fisherman's Wharf-Cow Hollow

Oct. 29 4.68 (426.89) in 29:38 / 9.47 mph / 466' elevation - Home-Work

Oct. 26 11.98 (422.21) in 1:13:13 / 9.82 mph / 1,328' elevation - Work-Sansome-Embarcadero-Ft.Mason-MarinaGreen-Presidio-GGBridge-Arguello-GGPark-Home

Oct. 24 4.03 (410.23) in 24:24 / 9.92 mph / 388' elevation - Home-Work

Oct. 23 5.58 (406.20) in 41:53 / 8.00 mph / 838' elevation - YMCA-Home

Oct. 23 1.57 (400.62) in 4:55 / 19.19 mph / 150' elevation - Work-YMCA

Oct. 18 4.86 (399.05) in 29:30 / 9.88 mph / 465' elevation - Grattan-Haight-Duboce-Market-Work

Oct. 17 6.00 (394.19) in 37:03 / 9.72 mph / 802' elevation - Work-Wiggle-Home

Oct. 17 3.91 (388.19) in 24:10 / 9.70 mph / 425' elevation - Home-Work

Oct. 15 9.39 (384.28) in 53:51 / 10.46 mph / 988' elevation - Work-Wiggle-GG Park(Crossover)-Home

Oct. 10 7.64 (374.89) in 27:02 / 16.97 mph / 606' elevation - Home-Work

Oct. 6 1.94 (367.25) in 12:48 / 9.10 mph / 402' elevation - Church-Home

Oct. 6 6.48 (365.31) in 31:55 / 12.18 mph / 854' elevation - Work-Wiggle-Church

Oct. 6 4.97 (358.83) in 20:08 / 14.81 mph / 442' elevation - Home-Work

Oct. 4 6.23 (353.86) in 32:31 / 11.48 mph / 654' elevation - Work-Wiggle-Home

Oct. 4 6.91 (347.63) in 25:45 / 16.11 mph / 552' elevation - Home-Work

Oct. 1 7.19 (340.72) in 35:40 / 12.10 mph / 784' elevation - Work-Wiggle-Home

Sept. 30 5.21 (333.53) in 24:37 / 12.69 mph / 566' elevation - Home-work

Sept. 27 16.73 (328.32) in 1:50:43 / 9.07 mph / 1,707' elevation - Critical Mass-home

Sept. 23 6.03 (311.59) in 24:45 / 14.61 mph / 640' elevation - Home-work

Sept. 22 13.00 (305.56) in 1:08:38 / 12.17 mph / 924' elevation - Church-Great Highway/Sloat-home (Distance inaccurate - GPS going crazy.)

Sept. 22 1.70 (292.56) in 9:48 / 10.37 mph / 36' elevation - Home-church

Sept. 21 6.06 (290.86) in 33:49 / 10.76 mph / 647' elevation - Work-Wiggle-Home

Sept. 17 4.6 (284.8) in 19:27 / 14.2 mph / 423' elevation - Home-YMCA

Sept. 16 6.66 (280.2) in 35:33 / 11.24 mph / 854' elevation - Work-Wiggle-Home

Sept. 16 5.58 (273.54) in 23:55 / 14 mph / 464' elevation - Home-14th-Market-Work

Sept. 13 7.58 (267.96) in 37:13 / 12.22 mph / 873' elevation - Work-Wiggle-Home

Sept. 12 3.66 (260.38) in 26:59 / 8.14 mph / 402' elevation - Home-14th-Market-Work

Sept. 4 7.28 (253.75) in 23:23 / 18.66 mph / xxxx' elevation - Home-YMCA

Aug. 30 5.95 (246.47) in 41:09 / 8.67 mph / 1,076' elevation - Work-Wiggle-Home

Aug. 20 5.64 (240.52) in 25:45 / 13.14 mph / xxxx' elevation - Home-YMCA

Aug. 15 5.01 (234.88) in 22:39 / 13.28 mph / xxxx' elevation - Home-YMCA

Aug. 14 6.19 (229.87) in 36:37 / 10.15 mph / 833' elevation - Work-Wiggle-Home

Aug. 6 4.02 (223.68) in 23:50 / 10.13 mph / 643' elevation - Home-YMCA

Aug. 3 15.27 (219.66) in 2:06:13 / 7.26 mph / 1,214' elevation - Home-Frederick-GGPark-GreatHwy-Sloat-reverse-home

Aug. 3 1.59 (204.39) in 10:56 / 8.73 mph / 335' elevation - Church-Frederick-home

Aug. 3 1.77 (202.80) in 8:12 / 12.94 mph / 36' elevation - Home-Frederick-church

Aug. 2 5.43 (201.03) in 35:42 / 9.13 mph / 883' elevation - Work-home

July 22 4.11 (195.6) in 23:53 / 10.3 mph / 564' elevation - Market Street-YMCA

July 19 4.72 (191.49) in 35:17 / 8.0 mph / 810' elevation - 16th/Vermont-home

July 19 4.03 (186.77) in 26:03 / 9.3 mph / 719' elevation - Work-Third Street-16th-Vermont

July 19 6.48 (182.74) in 36:49 / 10.6 mph / 1,490' elevation - JPMurphy-Market St-work

July 19 2.74 (176.26) in 30:17 / 5.4 mph / 1,161' elevation - Home-JPMurphy (w/ Benny)

July 18 5.68 (173.52) in 37:06 / 9.2 mph / 1,873' elevation - Work-home

July 18 9.0 (167.84) in 44:30 / 12.1 mph / 1,043' elevation - JPMurphy-Presidio-YMCA

July 18 2.59 (158.84) in 30:56 / 5.0 mph / 994' elevation - Home-JPMurphy (w/ Benny)

July 17 5.25 (156.25) in 33:16 / 9.5 mph / 922' elevation - Work-home

July 16 4.14 (151.00) in 24:32 / 10.1 mph / 630' elevation - Market Street-YMCA

July 12 9.42 (146.86) in 55:49 / 10.1 mph / 2,316' elevation - Work-GG Park-home

July 10 4.15 (137.44) in 24:13 / 10.3 mph / 577' elevation - Market Street-YMCA

July 8 5.34 (133.29) in 35:43 / 9.0 mph / 1,306' elevation - Work-home

July 8 4.24 (127.95) in 24:15 / 10.5 mph / 906' elevation - Market Street-YMCA

July 7 5.02 (123.71) in 44:28 / 6.8 mph / 1,125' elevation - Near GG Bridge-home (w/ Benny)

July 7 6.2 (118.69) in 48:52 / 7.6 mph / 1,122' elevation - Home-GG Bridge (w/ Benny)

July 6 8.0 (112.49) in 1:04:40 / 7.4 mph / 1,519' elevation - Home-GG Park

July 5 5.21 (104.49) in 37:26 / 8.3 mph / 1,414' elevation - Work-home

May 8 5.2 (99.28) in 41:40 / 7.5 mph / 538' elevation - Market Street-work

April 9 12.5 (94.06) in 1:05:23 / 11.5 mph / 928' elevation - Home-GG Park-Great Highway-GG Park-Market St.-work

April 6 4.6 (81.56) in 33:27 / 8.2 mph / 856' elevation - YMCA-Market St.-partial Wiggle-Haight-Buena Vista

April 6 4.1 (76.96) in 22:54 / 10.7 mph / 312' elevation - Market Street-YMCA

April 2 8.9 (72.86) in 1:06:03 / 8.1 mph / 1010' elevation - FinDist-Wharf-CowHollow-Presidio-Arguello-home

March 25 3.6 (63.96) in 22:10 / 9.8 mph / 420' elevation - Market Street-work

March 24 2.1 (60.36) in 17:51 / 7.1 mph / 62' elevation - Home-Rossi Park

March 22 5.0 (58.26) in 34:12 / 8.8 mph / 755' elevation - Work-Wiggle-home

March 10 9.45 (53.26) in 1:27:44 / 6.5 mph / 755' elevation - Embarcadero Sunday Streets

March 8 3.95 (43.81) in 21:48 / 10.8 mph / n/a elevation - Market Street-work

March 3 8.82 (39.86) in 1:19:53 / 6.6 mph / n/a elevation - Seventh Avenue-Golden Gate Park-home

March 3 1.81 (31.04) in 38:20 / 5.3 mph / n/a elevation - Home-Seventh Avenue

March 1 5.27 (29.23) in 38:20 / 8.2 mph / n/a elevation - Work-Wiggle-home

Feb. 26 3.8 (23.96) in 28:00 / n/a mph / n/a elevation - Market Street-work

Feb. 17 5.3 (20.16) in 35:41 / n/a mph / n/a elevation - Golden Gate Park

Feb. 17 3.6 (14.86) in 21:25 / n/a mph / n/a elevation - Golden Gate Park

Feb. 7 1.57 (11.26) in 15:30 / n/a mph / n/a elevation - Seventh Ave.-Parnassus-home

Feb. 7 5.71 (9.69) in 36:00 / n/a mph / n/a elevation - Work-Wiggle-Seventh Ave.

Jan. 2 3.98 (3.98) in 22:36 / n/a mph / n/a elevation - Market Street-work

My running - 2013

Nothing more here than my mileage for the day (and my year-to-date mileage). Snoozer city, really, but it's as good a way to keep track of it as any.

Dec. 28 10.42 (506.57) in 1:44:10 / 10:00 avg. (GPS inaccurate) - 934' - Home-Panhandle-GGPark-Ocean-Panhandle(all)-Baker-BuenaVistaTerrace-UpperTerrace

Dec. 23 10.36 (496.15) in 1:41:22 / 9:47 avg. (GPS inaccurate) - 930' - Home-Mt.Olympus-Panhandle-GGPark-GreatHwy

Dec. 20 9.1 (485.79) in 1:17:35 / 8:32 avg. (GPS inaccurate) - 446' - YMCA-Embarcadero-AquaticPier-FortMason-CrissyField

Dec. 15 9.3 (476.69) in 1:32:53 / 9:59 avg. - 861' - Home-Panhandle-GoldenGatePark-Ocean

Dec. 13 5.52 (467.39) in 55:35 / 10:04 avg. - 522' - Home-Panhandle-GoldenGatePark-Transverse

Dec. 4 3.71 (461.87) in 28:36 / 7:42 avg. - 220' - YMCA-Embarcadero-AT&TPark

Dec. 1 3.29 (458.16) in 30:15 / 9:11 avg. - 225' - CrissyField (Run Wild SF 5K, official time: 27:20 or 8:48 avg)

2013: 206th of 1,051 overall; 126th of 411 males; 33rd of 103 in M40-49; 48th of 181 masters

2012: 29:55 or 9:38 avg; 400th of 1,112 overall; 242nd of 438 males; 66th of 103 M40-49; 113th of 204 masters

Nov. 28 2.66 (454.87) in 28:23 / 10:40 avg. - 544' - CityHall-Polk-Market-14th-BuenaVista-BuenaVistaEast-UpperTerrace-Home

Nov. 28 3.95 (452.21) in 29:36 / 7:30 avg. - 379' - 3rd-King-Embarcadero-Howard-7th-McAllister-Hyde-Fulton (Turkey Day 5K, official time: 29:06)

Nov. 28 4.28 (448.26) in 40:02 / 9:20 avg. - 143' - Home-CliffordTerr-steps-VulcanSteps-17th-Market-Noe-17th-Mississippi-16th-UCSF-4th/South-TerryFrancois (to start of Turkey Day 5K)

Nov. 25 6.18 (443.98) in 59:18 / 9:35 avg. - 599' - Home-KezarSteps-KezarDrive-AcademyofScience-Panhandle-Baker-BuenaVista-UpperTerrace-MountOlympus

Nov. 22 4.66 (437.8) in 44:06 / 9:28 avg. - 410' - Home-KezarSteps-KezarDrive-Panhandle-Baker-BuenaVista-UpperTerrace

Nov. 18 4.27 (433.14) in 39:05 / 9:09 avg. - 390' - Home-Panhandle-MusicConcourseDrive (cramping calf)

Nov. 12 3.04 (428.87) in 27:46 / 9:08 avg. - 267' - Home-Frederick-Kezar steps-Home

Nov. 9 7.03 (425.83) in 1:05:29 / 9:19 avg. - 579' - Home-Frederick-Kezar(closed)-GGPark-bridge-Panhandle-Masonic-UpperTerrace

Oct. 30 12.69 (418.80) in 2:09:28 / 10:12 avg. - 1,487' - Home-Panhandle-Arguello-Presidio-GGBridge (first tower)

Oct. 26 5.24 (406.11) in 52:35 / 10:03 avg. - 556' - Home-Masonic-Sacramento-Work

Oct. 20 9.85 (400.87) in 1:33:37 / 9:30 avg. - 927' - Home-GGPark-GreatHighway

Oct. 17 5.03 (391.02) in 40:09 / 7:59 avg. - 293' - YMCA-Embarcadero-4th St.-Terry Francois

Oct. 12 10.57 (385.99) in 1:35:58 / 9:05 avg. - 1,034' - Home-Arguello-Presidio-Lincoln Blvd.

Oct. 6 6.79 (375.42) in 1:00:27 / 8:54 avg. - 368' - YMCA-Embarcardero-Fort Mason-MarinaGreen (Bridge-to-Bridge run) Official Info: 57:50 chip time / 9:19 Compared to 2012: 1:06:56 chip time /

Sept. 29 9.4 (368.63) in 1:31:21 / 9.45 avg. - YMCA-Embarcardero-Fort Mason (GPS had 10.24 miles.)

Sept. 26 6.40 (359.23) in 1:00:04 / 9:23 avg. - YMCA-Embarcardero-Fort Mason (Questionable GPS mileage)

Sept. 21 3.64 (352.83) in 38:51 / 10:40 avg. - Home-Roosevelt-14th-Market

Sept. 21 1.45 (349.19) in 11:55 / 8:13 avg. - Home-Roosevelt-Buena Vista Terrace

Sept. 14 5.18 (347.74) in 50:49 / 9:49 avg. - Camp Meeker-Occidental (Sonoma County)

Sept. 9 5.69 (342.56) in 50:58 / 8:58 avg. - YMCA-Embarcadero-Fort Mason

Sept. 6 6.35 (336.87) in 1:00:09 / 9:28 avg. - Home-Twin Peaks-O'Shaughnessy-Piedmont Terrace

Sept. 1 5.53 (330.52) in 54:21 / 9:50 avg. - Home-Twin Peaks-Portola/Woodside-Piedmont Terrace

August 28 5.69 (324.99) in 39:58 / 7:01 avg. (gotta be wrong!) - Y-Embarcadero-4th-Terry Francois

August 18 12.77 (319.3) in 1:58:18 / 9:16 avg. - Home-GG Bridge (first tower)-Mt Olympus

August 14 9.6 (306.53) in 1:25:40 / 8:55 avg. - Home-GG Park-Great Highway

August 8 4.29 (296.93) in 42:33 / 9:55 avg. - Home-GG Park-just past DeYoung

August 4 9.17 (292.64) in 1:27:24 / 9:32 avg. - Home-Presidio (Immigrant Point overlook)

August 1 5.60 (283.47) in 52:51 / 9:27 avg. - Home-Twin Peaks-Portola/Woodside-Piedmont Terrace

July 30 5.63 (277.87) in 51:44 / 9:11 avg. - Home-Panhandle-GG Park-Transverse Drive

July 24 5.77 (272.24) in 54:13 / 9:24 avg. - Home-Twin Peaks-Portola/Woodside-Roosevelt

July 21 7.32 (266.47) in 1:09:01 / 9:26 avg. - Home-Panhandle-Spreckels Lake

July 14 11.68 (259.15) in 1:48:14 / 9:16 avg. - Home-Panhandle-Arguello-Presidio-GG Bridge

July 10 4.54 (247.47) in 39:38 / 8:44 avg. - YMCA-Embarcadero-AT&T Park-McCovey Cove-Mission Bay Blvd.-Fourth Street-Mission Creek

July 2 9.49 (242.93) in 1:28:50 / 9:22 avg. - Home-Panhandle-Arguello-Presidio-Immigrant Point

July 2 6.66 (233.44) in 1:04:49 / 9:44 avg. - Home-Panhandle-Arguello-Presidio

June 27 5.39 (226.74) in 54:46 / 10:10 avg. - Home-Twin Peaks-Portola/Woodside

June 22 5.97 (221.35) in 1:02:42 / 10:30 avg. - Home-Panhandle-Arguello-Presidio

June 17 1.64 (215.38) in 20:52 / 12:43 avg. - Paris: Apartment-Tuileries Gardens-Place de la Concorde-Tuileries Gardens-Apartment (w/ Benny)

June 13 5.72 (213.74) in 58:40 / 10:16 avg. - Paris: Apartment-Rue de Rivoli-Place de la Concorde-Champs Élysées-Arc de Triomphe-Eiffel Tower-Quai d'Orsay-Pont de la Concorde-Tuileries Gardens-Apartment

June 9 3.61 (208.02) in 35:39 / 9:52 avg. - Canterbury, England

June 1 5.10 (204.41) in 47:05 / 9:14 avg. - YMCA-Embarcadero-AT&T Park-McCovey Cove-Mission Bay Blvd.-Fourth Street-Mission Creek

May 27 4.65 (199.31) in 41:55 / 9:00 avg. - YMCA-Embarcadero-AT&T Park-McCovey Cove-Mission Bay Blvd.-Fourth Street-Mission Creek

May 19 7.73 (194.66) in 1:12:11 / 9:20 avg. - Bay to Breakers: 3,629th of 22,467 (officially 7.46 miles in 1:10:37 or 9:29 pace)

May 12 7.41 (186.93) in 1:12:31 / 9:47 avg. - Home-Panhandle-Arguello-Presidio

May 5 8.37 (179.52) in 1:22:20 / 9:50 avg. - Home-Panhandle-Arguello-Presidio

May 3 5.55 (171.15) in 56:36 / 10:12 avg. - Home-Panhandle-GG Park-Hellmann Hollow

April 29 4.24 (165.6) in 38:04 / 8:58 avg. - St. Joseph, MI: YMCA-Hollywood-Glenlord-Washington-Maiden Lane

April 27 3.1 (161.36) in 26:51 / 8:39 avg. - Benton Harbor, MI: SuperHero 5K: Riverview Drive-high school

April 24 3.80 (158.26) in 36:44 / 9:40 avg. - Chicago: Wabash/Madison-Grant Park-Navy Pier

April 22 0.85 (154.46) in 8:34 / 10:05 avg. - Chicago: Grant Park to Wabash/Madison

April 22 3.13 (153.61) in 26:41 / 8:32 avg. - Chicago: Astellas 5K in Grant Park

April 22 1.04 (150.48) in 9:53 / 9:32 avg. - Chicago: Wabash/Madison-Art Institute-Balbo/Columbus

April 18 3.15 (149.44) in 29:19 / 9:00 avg. - YMCA-Embarcardero-Fourth/King-AT&T Park

April 16 6.14 (146.29) in 1:01:04 / 9:57 avg. - Home-Panhandle-GG Park-Hellmann Hollow

April 11 9.41 (140.15) in 1:30:42 / 9:39 avg. - Home-Panhandle-GG Park-Great Hwy

April 4 8.38 (130.74) in 1:20:05 / 9:33 avg. - Embarcadero-pier-Crissy Field

March 29 6.36 (122.36) in 1:00:27 / 9:30 avg. - Embarcadero-pier-Fort Mason

March 23 5.15 (116.0) in 51:58 / 10:06 avg. - Twin Peaks

March 15 3.8 (110.85) in 35:50 / 9:26 avg. - Hellman Meadow-Great Highway

March 14 3.18 (107.05) in 27:50 / 8:45 avg. - Embarcadero-AT&T Park

March 9 6.52 (103.87) in 1:01:04 / 9:22 avg. - Golden Gate Park-30th Ave.

March 5 6.56 (97.35) in 1:02:28 / 9:32 avg. - Golden Gate Park-30th Ave.

March 2 4.77 (90.79) in 53:09 / 11:08 avg. - Corbett-Glen Canyon

Feb. 23 5.28 (86.02) in 52:06 / 9:52 avg. - Twin Peaks

Feb. 17 6.73 (80.74) in 59:58 / 8:54 avg. - Chinatown-North Beach-Embarcadero Chinatown YMCA 10K

Feb. 13 6.54 (74.01) in 1:02:39 / 9:34 avg. - Golden Gate Park-30th Ave.

Feb. 10 7.46 (67.47) in 1:16:40 / 10:17 avg. - Arguello-Presidio

Feb. 3 13.69 (60.01) in 2:35:16 / 11:21 avg. - Golden Gate Park-Great Highway Kaiser Half-Marathon Official result: 13.1 in 2:31:34 / 11:34 avg.

Jan. 28 4.0 (46.32) in 44:17 / 11:05 avg. - Twin Peaks

Jan. 25 9.98 (42.32) in 1:51:06 / 11:08 avg. - Embarcadero: Y-Fort Point

Jan. 21 9.23 (32.34) in 1:32:36 / 10:02 avg. - Golden Gate Park to ocean

Jan. 19 6.07 (21.11) in 1:06:10 / 10:54 avg. - Arguello-Presidio

Jan. 6 5.26 (17.04) in 53:34 / 10:11 avg. - Twin Peaks

Jan. 4 6.51 (11.78) in 1:00:41 / 9:10 avg. - Embarcardero: Y-Fort Mason

Jan. 1 5.27 (5.27) in 57:25 / 10:54 avg. - Twin Peaks

Thank you, Louis Simpson

Tonight's news that the poet Louis Simpson had died returned me to the second floor of the Shaman Drum bookstore in downtown Ann Arbor. Mr. Simpson was giving a poetry reading, but I was in attendance for a purely selfish reason: My professor, who had brought Mr. Simpson to Ann Arbor, had selected one of my poems and that of another student at Eastern Michigan University for Mr. Simpson to read and critique.

A Pulitzer Prize winner … reading my poem … and then giving his thoughts on what I had written. I was puffed up, ready to hear Mr. Simpson praise my poetry as the ripplings of the literary world's next tidal wave. He must, he would say, read more.

And in Ann Arbor, to boot. This was not Ypsilanti, or even Detroit. This was the center of the academic and free-thinking universe, as far as I was concerned.

Perhaps he would call me "the next Allen Ginsberg." Perhaps even Ginsberg himself would call after he and Louis Simpson discussed me over coffee in a chic cafe in New York or San Francisco or while they strolled along the Seine. ("Al, old pal, I came across this kid in Michigan who will make your 'muscles big as a vagina' howl!")

As I've described the critique to friends since then, Mr. Simpson savaged my poem. Ripped it. Left no word unscathed. He played Sherman to my Atlanta.

"Overwrought" may be one of the words he used.

I should have been upset, but I wasn't. "How many people get their poem ripped by a Pulitzer Prize winner in front of the literary elite?" I told myself.

I fear that the words of poetry's next revolutionary leader, written during and for a few years after that class, unfortunately have been scattered in one of my many moves to, within and from Michigan, Prague and San Francisco over the past 25 years.

Perhaps Mr. Simpson's death is a sign to start writing poetry again with a clean slate.

Regardless, in remembrance of Louis Simpson tonight, I say thank you to Mr. Simpson and to my professor, Lawrence Smith, for the opportunity to be shredded by one of poetry's best.