Gerald R. Lucas

Thanks to my cool mother-in-law, I am now the proud owner of a new iPod Touch. It wasn’t a birthday present, but a thank-you for setting up her new computer. I was happy to do it, and I was even happier to get the Touch so serendipitously.

For my birthday, my brother Tim gave me a gift certificate for Big Peach Running Company in order to get some new running shoes. The New Balance pair I bought in Pigeon Forge suck: the sole insert in my left shoe decided to migrate toward the heel, making the shoes uncomfortable and useless. Thanks, New Balance. So, I needed some new running shoes. Big Peach is cool, because they put me on a treadmill and filmed me running for about 30 seconds in order to analyze my gait. While we reviewed the tape, we compared it to several other runners in order to pick the right shoe for me. After trying on several pairs of shoes, I picked some Nikes as my favorites. I was surprised, too. Actually, a pair of Brooks came in a close second; however, I’m glad I went with the Nikes.

What do my shoes have to do with my new iPod? Well, enter Nike+. I’ve known about this for a couple of years, but was never able to take advantage of it — either I didn’t have the right iPod, or I was wearing another manufacturer’s shoes. Finally, the stars have aligned, thanks to Tim, Cheryl, and my lovely wife.

I made my first calibration walk/run today, just to try out the system. I gotta, I’m pretty impressed. When I was finished, iTunes automatically uploaded my stats to Nike’s slick web site (a Flash-powered site that cannot be viewed on the iPod Touch, however), so I could create an account. I assume the site will keep track of my runs on a daily basis. I’m gonna be a machine — a likely result of being trained by machines.

Finally, I coupled with this new set-up with a program called Couch to 5K (link to iTunes Store). While I’m not exactly getting off the couch, the program does seem to use some of the work-out techniques that I have recently been attempting myself, namely intervals. C5K spans nine weeks, with three workouts per week, and claims by the end I’ll be running 5K without stopping. I think that’s a pretty good goal for the first part of my 40th year.

Who knows, maybe I can begin finally running some of the local 5Ks. Oh, and here’s my little Nike dude. Does he look like me?

UPDATE: I also joined Daily Mile at Heather’s prompting. Join and make me your friend; my pathetic runs will only make you feel better about yours.

I want to wish Mrs. Mary “Grannie” Jackson, my grandmother-in-law, a happy 94th birthday. We celebrated with her family yesterday, and I took a few pictures of the occasion. The gallery password is SarasotaFL.

Last Friday, Dan and I took about forty students to Oxford and Christ Church. It was a beautiful day (again!), and Oxford was very photogenic. Between the architecture, the people, and the landscapes, I’m not sure my camera had much rest that day. Out of 316 photos, I marked (and posted) 178 — over half. That’s a damn good average for me.

Dan took us on a whirlwind tour, starting with several colleges. I had lunch with Kristin, Emily, and Dan, while the other students ate on their own. After dining on a sandwich and a Coke, we took in Christ Church — the best and worst part of the trip. It was the best because, well it was gorgeous — both it and the surrounding landscapes. Stunning. It was the worst because they didn’t want us there. Seriously: Christ Church seems to hate visitors, yet they willing took our £5!

There was even one old dude (standing here like a soldier) who got offended if you rested for a minute in the courtyard. He walked up behind this one dark-skinned kid and said “Hey, José, move along.” The kid was Chinese. His head would have probably exploded if we touched the grass. To top it off, the cathedral was closed right as Dan and I were purchasing our tickets. If Oxford and Christ Church were so beautiful, those guys might have ruined my day. Seriously: if you guys hate visitors so much, don’t allow them to come in. Oh, but I guess you need our money, huh?

Check out the gallery. I have also made two collections: one for student portraits and one for faculty.

My World Literature field trip was screwed up today. Not the one we actually took, but the one I had planned. We were studying the Enlightenment this week, with examples from Molière and Pope. Therefore, I decided to go to Marble Hill House, an 18th-century mansion on the Thames, west of London. Well, apparently the house is only open on the weekends and the Thames cruise I wanted does not even go there. So, I decided to reroute the cruise to Greenwich and visit the Royal Observatory, the 17th-century structure built by Wren to figure out time and space — applicable to the Enlightenment, no?

Our first stop was the National Gallery for a look at Hogarth’s Marriage à la Mode series. What was the only room closed that day, do you think? I just laughed and my students and I went to catch our boat to Greenwich from the Westminster pier. Fortunately, the rest of the day  was free of disappointment.

The cruise to Greenwich was under cloudy skies and the students seemed unenthusiastic. I think even a couple of them slept. No biggie, I thought, we’d sit on the top of the boat on the way back to Westminster. Greenwich was cool — home of the aforementioned observatory, another of the Queen’s houses, and the Maritime Museum. We had lunch at a local pub, then climbed the hill to the observatory and the Prime Meridian. All had pictures and a leisurely walk around the museum and the planetarium. We even got a class picture before departing.

As I expected, we were the first to queue for the return boat, so we all got excellent seats on the top of the boat. I put the 70-200mm lens on, too, so I was able to get student shots as well as details of the views from the Thames.

Check out both the Thames Cruise and the Greenwich galleries.

Our field trip for this day took us to the Tower of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral for examples of English crime and punishment throughout history. I asked my students to take the Beefeater‘s Tour of the tower, something that’s always entertaining. I’ve visited the tower several times over the last 15 years, and I always have the same thought: was anyone who was imprisoned or executed here really guilty of anything? Still, it’s a great palimpsest of London politics and government.

St. Paul’s might be my favorite cathedral of those I’ve ever visited. When I first visited in the early nineties, they allowed photography. They don’t now, but they still charge. Wonder why? (I suppose strobes and clicks would disrupt the Jesusy stuff going on. I did remember to take my hat off this time. I know how hats offend God.) Still, I did climb the stairs all the way to the top to photograph a mean London sky. I also sat for a time meditating under Wren’s golden dome that separates us from heaven. I also gave my respects to the memorials of Blake, Wren, and Donne.

Check out my Tower and St. Paul’s galleries.

I posted some photos of my Paris weekend on my photography web site. Check ‘em out.

One of the two scheduled walks for our trip (the other is the Jack the Ripper Tour, which I missed), the Shakespeare Walk began in London proper and continued in Bankside. It was a great tour: we crossed the London Bridge, saw the George Inn, several alleys mentioned by Shakespeare and Dickens, the site of Chaucer’s Tabard Inn, St. Saviour’s Church (wherein rests Edmund Shakespeare, Wil’s brother who died of the plague), Drake’s Golden Hinde, the Anchor Pub where Dr. Johnson used to hang, the site of the original Globe theatre, and a beautiful sunset over London. The tour guide and some of us faculty had a pint after the tour.

Check out my Bankside gallery for images of everything I mention above.