- Yesterday I ran my first 5k of the year. My goal was to finish, not take walk breaks, and run slowly. I had negative splits for each mile and averaged a 13:32 pace. Met all objectives.

- Waited for the gf to finish her half-marathon (or a 21k!) and had a chance to just relax in the sun. We had to wait at bag check an inordinate amount of time when she finished and then took a nap (having left the house at 5:30AM to avoid traffic snafus.)

- In the afternoon she had a massage and I swam for 50 minutes. Then we had a fabulous dinner.

- In the evening rather than doing chores, grading, or working I lay on the couch and read news curated by the Zite fuzzy algorithm - Zite is definitely one of my favorite apps.

@Xcite_Media says I need to update my All Dead Band with MCA on upright bass. 

So I guess that gives us:

Vocals: Morrison for male lead vocals, Janis for female lead vocals 

Backup Vocals: Whitney Houston

Lead Guitar: Hendrix

Rhythm Guitar: Brian Jones

Regular Bass: Cliff Burton

Upright Bass: MCA

Drums: Levon Helm

Sax: The Big Man

Keyboards/Piano: Nicky Hopkins

Re : http://marc.xanga.com/762350696/annies-good-deed-for-the-day/

Summer is here and the temperature is rising. Let's hit the pools and get wet wet wet!

Vacation time.

(p.s. : Pink looks good on men too, yes?)

I just returned from a rather pleasant night on the town with a friend of mine. I'm suitably tired, buzzed and slightly hoarse. Mainly because of the shouting over the music that occurred when discussing Paul Verhoeven's movies being a deliberate mockery of the Hollywood system. I don't think they are, but mileage may vary. It was a good night. For the most part.

The main conclusion of the evening for me though is something I've known for a long time. And something that, unfortunately I must say, was confirmed once again in the last week or so. Life is indifferent. The more mainstream version being life isn't fair. But fair implies some sort of judgment, a system of morality that's inherent to what's going on around us. There isn't. Life's a machine. There's no meaning, no goal. The good, the bad and the downright ugly just happen.

This is a hard thing to swallow. Why is it that bad things happen to good people? Why is it that bad things happen at all? And that's not just the 58 year old friend having one to two years to live because he's got an inoperable brain tumor bad. It's also the being born in abject poverty bad. The being born with birth defects bad. To misquote Animal Farm: all people are born equal, but why are some people born more equal than others?

It seems to me there are two basic ways of responding to this moral dilemma. You either stop caring and go on with your life regardless, or you do something about it. On a personal level I try to be there for people who get shit on by life. It's easier said that done sometimes, but I think we can all agree this is the thing to do.

This dilemma is also why I'm a socialist. Life's indifferent to those in it. But that's doesn't mean we should be. We are all humans and it's my firm believe we all deserve a go at it. An equal go. Which means that people who are disadvantaged in some way get to get some support. Privilege comes with responsibility.

I'm currently team lead on project employing several people who rate on the autism spectrum. On their own, these people, through no fault of their own, would be lost in "normal" society. They would not be working. Which would be a shame, because these people are willing and, with some help, able. And it makes them better equipped to deal with life in general. I'd be lying if I'd said it was easy but it's worth while.

People born into poverty don't chose to be born that way. Nor do people chose their gender, race, genetic disposition for diseases, place of birth or which social strata they become part of. And the consequences of these things is enormous. My prospects would have been different had I been a woman. Or black. Or Mexican.

And you know what? It shouldn't. We're all humans And that means we all should be treated as such. The more equal a society, the happier it's considered to be. If we only get one go at life, we might as well make it as pleasant as possible for everybody. Life might be inconsiderate, but that doesn't mean we have to be.