And Now Something About Myself...

I have avoided inserting much of myself into the writings on The Ozone Shack recently. That's how it should be. That's how all blogs should be, but it is a hallmark of the era we live in that nothing actually happens to you until you post something about it on the internet. I'm going to post something I allegedly wrote over a year ago when my friend essentially asked "what comes next after running?" I wrote this:

Nothing has to "come next" after running. If you want to do something competitive - swimming or cycling or triathlons or biathlons or telethons or midget tossing - you can go at it with all due vigor to try and replace it. If you want to stay fit you can lift or climb or box or even just carry a 35 pound cinder block with you at all times, something that would give you more functional strength than most weight room routines. There are a million things you can do with your life, from building bridges that cure cancer to copious drug use. What's "next" is you take what you've learned from running - dedication, pain tolerance, attention to perfection, patience, perseverance, delaying gratification, focus, tawny hamstrings, etc. - and apply it to whatever else God has in store for you. You don't get a refund when you're done, you cash out all the experience points you've been logging in the bank this whole time. Because nothing is wasted time; everything you do prepares you for the next thing you do. You won't find the next activity to replace it because nothing else will replace it. A lot of things are coming next, and I would tell you to get ready, but you already are.

 But still, I can't help but wonder if all I did was waste the meaningful third of the first 21 years of my life.

The Ozone Album Book Club

There's a new thing we're doing that I've wanted to get started for a while but never got around to: The Ozone Album Book Club. There are no books involved. But there are albums involved. One every week. It will be announced every Tuesday on our facebook page, or by following us on twitter.

There isn't a particular methodology used to select them, they're just albums that I think merit appreciation. We're getting the ball rolling with Pearl Jam's Yield. You and the rest of Ozone Nation can listen to it on Grooveshark here.

Hello Ozone Nation

I am here. I am still alive. I have things on my mind, most of which are centered around how I cannot write and why being tired makes me nauseated. Maybe this has something to do with gluten, or lack thereof, which I am cutting from my diet for three to four weeks to see if I am allergic to gluten. Gluten-free bread is scary. It sizzles for some reason when you pull it out of the toaster, and were Winston Churchill exposed to it, he probably would have had something colorful to say. But he was not. World War II was won with gluten in the belly of every soldier, except the ones in the Bataan Death March.

Please write your congressman or congresswoman or congressrobot about this situation. I need federal funding to beat my writer's block. Also ask them to send me clubs designed to beat back demons and a pair of hoverboots. And French fries. I like French fries, and so do you.