Coronormal Day 134

A beautiful morning for a run, apart from pollen and somewhat more humidity than I’d prefer — but clear, temperate, and I was limber and strong. I saw many more people on my run than I used to duri… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 5 years ago

Coronormal Day 133

I decided early on that I didn’t want to try a full-on morning run; my knees have been wobbling a bit, and my joints were creaky during warm-up. My thought had been to take a long, slow run, in pre… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 5 years ago

Coronormal Day 132

A good weather day for a run — I felt all right, temperature was cool but not chilly, moderate breezes but not so as to hinder progress. I made my mile in 9:31. Morning Office, fruit breakfast, Mar… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 5 years ago

Coronormal Day 131

The morning was rainy, so I began the day expecting not to run — but I noticed a pause in the precipitation, so I put on my trainers and ventured out. Alas, as soon as I hit my stride during warm-u… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 5 years ago

Coronormal Day 130

Morning mile 9:33, Morning Office, hot breakfast, Mass at St Mary Magdalene, good working ideas for my sermon, lovely check-ins from Pippa and Nate, and that was mostly the extent of the day. More … | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 5 years ago

Coronormal Day 129

I forgot to record anything in particular about today. My morning mile was 9:35; Morning Office, grocery trip, hot breakfast. I frittered the day away among light reading, Legends, and saving the w… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 5 years ago

Coronormal Day 128

I mustn’t miss two days in a row, so I took my morning run in very humid air, 16°, medium pollen (but enough to keep eyes and sinuses streaming), and limber but heavy legs — all to the result of a … | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 5 years ago

Coronormal Day 127

This morning I actually did skip running. I got to bed late, I slept past my usually running time, and when I woke I was a bit headachey and stiff-jointed. It seemed to me that if I were ever going… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 5 years ago

Coronormal Day 126

Did I decide to skip my morning run? No, I did not! On the whole, a lovely day, though something is blooming that has my eyes and nose streaming. 13°, ‘medium’ pollen count (but it all depends on w… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

Coronormal Day 125

A near-perfect morning for running — might have been warmer (9°), but clear and endurable humidity, though high pollen — and I limbered up satisfactorily, finishing my mile in 9:21. Morning Office,… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

Coronormal Day 124

I’m in a phase of being tempted, day on day, to skip my morning run. I haven’t missed a day for weeks; I exercise from a sense of obligation rather than any enjoyment (though I don’t actually visce… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

Coronormal Day 123

Rainy morning, 13°, so I decided not to try for a mile, but to go out and run till I didn’t want to get any wetter. Once I got outside and was warming up, though, the rain abated and I wound … | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

Coronormal Day 122

Another grey morning, 15°, high pollen, high humidity, stiff and achey limbs, and my mile came in at 9:37. Morning Office, grocery trip, hot breakfast. Finished Nazianzen, worked on the sermon, and… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

Coronormal Day 121

I woke up stiff — my back threatened to develop spasms at a couple of points — so although the conditions for running were satisfactory, I decided not to time the run and simply to go slow and stea… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

Coronormal Day 120

Another grey, cool morning, 15° and high humidity, calm, and high pollen — but my pace just didn’t come together, and I ran to a 9:46 mile. Once again, the variation in my times puzzles me. M… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

Coronormal Day 119

This morning the conditions were fine: cloudy, 13°, medium pollen, high but not too high humidity. I wasn’t in good form, though, and the time was 9:25. The rest of the day was taken up with corres… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

Quatorze Juillet, Corona Year One (118)

This morning was humid, 14°, and I had sluggish legs; as so often in humid weather, it felt as though I were running through high-density air. My mile time was 9:51. After the Morning Office and so… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

New Normal 117

The weather was fine for this morning’s run, but I felt… well, I was stiff and slept late, my heart wasn’t in it, and I was tempted to not run at all. Instead I chose to take a deliberately slow, u… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

First Sunday of New Normal

A beautiful morning for a run, if a bit chilly (6°) and with so abundant a proliferation of pollen that my eyes and nose were streaming all the way. It took a while to limber up, but good enough by… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

Legends of the Jews, Vol. I

I have for a very long time held a special place in my heart for Louis Ginzberg’s Legends of the Jews, a valuable six-colume compilation of the truly mind-bogglingly vast array of sources that expa… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

NN One Fifteen

Lovely clear morning weather, a chilly 5° with a light breeze, high pollen (my nose was streaming awkwardly), and my legs were not as limber as sometimes, but neither were they heavy or stiff. The … | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

New Normal 114

Chilly air, humid, high pollen, and a satisfactory time of 9:21. Morning Office, fruit breakfast, and I planned some work on the review of the book I just read, a look at my own book project, and a… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

New Normal 113

Another rainy morning, a chill in the humid air, but the rain was filtering out some of the pollen, and I worked my way back to a time of 9:39. Morning Office, fruit breakfast, and I finished the b… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

New Normal 112

This morning dawned with heavy rain, 15° but low pollen, and I thought to bluster through the rain for a full run, but after about a half mile I changed my mind. Morning Office, grocery trip, hot b… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

Day 111, New Style

This morning was lovely — 10°, high humidity, high pollen, but clear and bracing. Since I had run hard yesterday morning, I resolved to go slowly today; as it turned out, I ran very slowly indeed, … | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

O Uncertain New World, Day 110

The weather this morning was fine, my knees limbered up satisfactorily, and I took a mid-mile break to take a photo for Margaret, all with the result that my time broke the nine-minute barrier. Tha… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

Back To Church (For Some), Day 109

The pre-dawn morning was dank and gusty (though certainly warm enough); the air was misty, high pollen, and my knees were stiff from yesterday’s prolonged walk. I quickly discerned that I wasn’t go… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

Super Spreader Saturday, 108

The morning weather was a bit wetter, a bit warmer, notably breezier, and much less limber (that last it was my legs, not the weather), so my run was significantly slower — 9:53. Grocery trip, Morn… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

Between the First and Second Waves, Day 107

Usual this-week’s weather: 12°, humid, high pollen, and a usual this-week mile of 9:18. I felt good, with stable strength and breathing. Morning Office, fruit breakfast, finished reading Neuromance… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

Same New Normal, Day 106

Another cool, grey, humid morning — 12°, high humidity but only medium pollen, and I felt good and limber, and my mile came in at 9:16. Morning Office, fruit breakfast, and I spent much of the day … | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

The Same Normal, But Different, Day 105

The weather was a bit chilly, 14° and very humid, high pollen count, and I felt a bit creaky and old, so I didn’t start the timer and simply ran my mile, which was fine. Then to Tesco for our Wedne… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

A New World 104

Same conditions as yesterday, practically the same result — a 9:27 mile. I’m feeling less agreeable to running again; it’s a nuisance, and the lack of evident progress demotivates me. Morning Offic… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

NN Hundred and Three

No offers of cigarettes this morning — indeed, I didn’t see anybody at all. The temperature was 12°, high (but not ‘very high’) pollen, moderately high humidity, breezy, but still a somewhat sluggi… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

NN Hundred and Two

This morning was almost chilly, 11°, though still with high humidity and high pollen count. While I was still warming up, a kind-hearted (perhaps still drunken) woman offered me a fag, on the impre… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

NN One-Oh-One

I started my morning run during a break in a drizzly dawn, but by the time I was well into my warm-up, the drizzle turned toward rain and the rain became steady, so I cut the mile short and returne… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

A Century Of Isolation

A century of days, that is. This morning began at 18°, full humidity and ultra pollen, and although I felt better than yesterday physically (knees fine, back fine) I opted not to try to push for sp… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

NNNinety-NNNine

The morning temperature was 17°, and the rest was as it has been — calm, clear, very humid, and the air dense with pollen. My knees were a bit stiff, my back felt twitchy, and I thought it the bett… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

NNNinety-Eight

The morning climate was fine: clear, temperate (15°), calm, but distinctly humid and continuing with very high pollen. It felt a bit as though I were running and breathing in treacle. The mile came… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

New Normal, Ninety-Seven

Another lovely, clear summer day — 12°, high humidity, very high pollen count, and no breezes, my mile in 9:34. Morning Office, fruit breakfast, and settling in to spend as much of the day reading … | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

New Normal, Ninety-Six

Today dawned clear, cool, calm, high humidity and with an extremely high pollen count. My legs felt leaden, and I didn’t push; I got home in 9:45. I’ve commented before on how unpredictable my time… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

New Normal, Day Ninety-Four

11°, very high pollen, 98% humidity, sluggish legs and challenging breathing, 9:32. Morning Office, separate trips to Tesco and Sainsbury’s (masked and compliant with distancing rules), hot breakfa… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

New Normal, Ninety-Five

It was raining heavily when I woke up this morning, so I was inclined to write off my morning mile. Morning Office, and some work on Legends. At about eight o’clock, though, the rain had paused lon… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

New Normal, Day Ninety-Three

A chilly 13° and wet, very high pollen and 99.9% humidity. I managed to stomp my way to a 9:27 mile, but I felt sluggish the whole way. Morning Office, fruit breakfast, some internet distractions, … | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

1989 in [Music] Culture

A couple of online interventions lately have turned my thoughts to one of my favourite schemes, namely a journal that published reviews of books, music, films, and so on from a set interval in retr… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

Toward a New Normal, Day Ninety-Two

Chilly rain this morning, so no run — I’m a creature of routine, but I’m not mad. Morning Office, fruit breakfast, and all day hammering away at Legends till late afternoon, the Office of Readings … | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

COVID World, Day Ninety-One

13°, 99% humidity, very high pollen. What’s the difference between running in high humidity and swimming? When you’re swimming, the water will always be cooling you off as you go. The mile was an u… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

COVID 90

13°, very high pollen, high humidity, a bit of a slow start at limbering up my knees and thighs, for a mile time of 9:56. Morning Office, fruit breakfast, and a morning devoted to Legends — with Ab… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago

COVID World, Day Eighty-Nine

Another cool, clear, calm start for the day, with 98% humidity and very high pollen levels. My legs felt heavy, and breathing was laboured; I came in at 9:49 on a day without any muscle strain. I’l… | Continue reading


@akma.disseminary.org | 6 years ago