First off, I should say that I am disappointed by the treadmills at my new gym. The one I tried the other night had a flat screen monitor. From here, one may choose from a selection of outdoor backgrounds to watch while running. I picked the mountain - not because I wanted to feel like I was climbing one, but because it looked cool. I was thinking, wow, this technology is great! Another distraction for my easily distractable mind!

So, there is a bar across the bottom of the screen, which purportedly exists so you can monitor your progress. I figured that as I went along, the bar would slowly rise or maybe zigzag back and forth in an upward motion, to show my progress up the mountain. Five minutes went by. A little tick appeared on the bar, reflecting the time elapsed. It was flat. No rising. Whatsoever. Five more minutes go by. No upward surge. OK, I'm thinking, it IS a big mountain. I guess I'm not going up anytime soon. Fifteen minutes go by..........twenty.........thirty - still nothing. What the fuck. I'm losing motivation. Well, not really, but the point is, if you are going to go through the trouble of having a nice picture of a mountain on your treadmill, you might as well make it do something.

In music news, I discovered a really cool song driving home from Chicago. By the way, do you think Columbus felt the same way "discovering" America that I feel discovering a new song? I mean, other people listened to it before I did, quite a few actually. Do you think Columbus felt that sense of awe, of ownership, upon setting foot on this land that his contemporaries did not know existed? Hmmmm....... at least I didn't have to slaughter any natives to claim possession of my song.

So back to the point. The song I now love (and have graciously added to my playlist) is Red Rabbits by The Shins. Not sure I really understand the lyrics yet, but using the word emulsion in a rock song is pretty damn impressive. Anyway, it sounds......beautiful. It reminds of driving on the highway when the sky a little bit dark and the streetlights are a little bit on. It reminds me of palm trees and 80 degree weather at twilight. It reminds me of........ the way a woman's lips curl at the ends when she thinks she's gotten the best of you; that teasing, playful smile of exuberance and anticipation. Yeah, that's it. Playful anticipation, subtle and subdued, is how I'd peg this song.

That's it for tonight, kids. May your dreams be filled with werewolves and cyclops and beasts unknown...........................