i have her, in concert (yo la tengo)

went to see the wedding present with rhinocerose and yo la tengo last night. it was pretty cool, but the levels were a little off (i guess it's pretty hard to get it right in and outdoor venue) so it was a bit too loud for my taste, and you couldn't really hear the voices well enough to understand them. it was also rather what i think people would describe as "experimental;" the main guy in yo la tengo kept doing weird shit like just hitting all the guitar strings at once and waving his hand randomly over various parts of the fingerboard, also using the bender bar at random times for no apparent reason, and then swinging the whole guitar over his head like a lasso, or intentionally trying to create feedback by dangling it like a pendulum in front of the amp. it was cool, and i enjoyed it a lot, but i think i probably would have gotten more out of it if i had been familiar with the music beforehand (a friend of mine told me this was a show not to be missed, and so i went despite never having heard any of the groups's work yet).

been running more regularly recently. like every weekend, and maybe once in between if i can manage it. now that i've gotten back into it, and after losing about ten pounds last month, it's getting much easier, but not quite to the point where i was last summer. i probably went 5 or 6 miles this afternoon. it's funny; it's so hard to judge one's own progress. i feel like i'm doing better, which to be fair, i probably am, and should count for something, but by yourself, there's not a whole lot to push against, even if you try. there was a guy that came up behind me when i felt like i was already going pretty fast, and he just blew right past. i tried keeping up with him for a while, but didn't last much longer than 20 or 30 seconds before i had to just suck it up and let him go. that was a little disheartening.

only sort of related (not at all an excuse, but something that needs to be done), i think i really need to get a new pair of running shoes. these ones that i have don't really have any spring left in them. well, i guess that's to be expected, seeing as they'll be seven years old in december; which is quite a long time, even considering that i've been very strict about only ever using them for running. it was kinda cute, in a sort of way, i suppose; they're still the most expensive shoes i've ever purchased (unless you count my snowboard boots last december), and in the beginning, i did basically everything but port them around on a velvet pillow... i carried them down to the track, put them on there to run, and then took them off again to walk back up the hill. :) reminiscence aside, though, my calves are really quite sore right now.

and not that anyone really cares except me, but this morning i weighed in at 68kg, which is another minor milestone (just under 150lbs). makes me happy, after being stuck on the 69.5-70.5 plateau for all of last week.