Comments on: Quiet times are over. Fall is almost here.

By: ThomasJeffersonWasACoward

ThomasJeffersonWasACoward — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:00:04 +0000

The “this blog is all negative” crowd seemed to have completely missed the optimism inherent in this bit from the post:

“Iâ€™m a bit delusional and think the Fins can make it to the Super Bowl.”

And missed the the happiness and enthusiasm here:

“This [ iPod Sport Kit] toy is so much fun. I love being able to track the distance/time of every run I do.”

As for “solipsism” ah, hello, it’s a personal blog. Kinda sorta comes with the territory (c.f. Jaquith, Waldo).

By: Kevin Cox

Kevin Cox — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 15:14:02 +0000

Are you suggesting that because I am a breeder I also bow down to Waldo? If you are, you are wrong! I am a very successful breeder, having contributed three breedlings as part of my contribution to the death of the earth by overwhelming population growth. However, I am embarrassed to admit that not one of them has yet purchased an SUV. In fact two of them don’t even drive. Anyway, I don’t worship at the Altar of Waldo, also known as the Free Speech Monument to Juvenile Graffitti.

I sometimes run the trail up to Monticello. It’s only two miles so I’ll go up and down repeatedly. The trail is very nice. It’s not paved so it’s easy on the knees and there are no stinky vehicles with crazy, homicidal drivers on cell phones to deal with. The Rivanna trail is also nice to run.

By: Outskirts Guy

Outskirts Guy — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 03:45:35 +0000

Hey Sad. Are there ever new issues in the village? If things change I’ll stop complaining. Now, go kiss the Waldo…glad to know you won’t waste time here again.

Odds say I’ll be there for the Clark 5k.

C-Ville is awesome if you bow down to Waldo, like breeding, or smoke. If you want to be able to do something new more than once/year it isn’t the best place in the world. It is a small village. I really wish I was an idiot.

I tend to run a loop that runs from downtown mall, along Main to UVA, across 29, hang a right to go past UVA track and biz school, down behind Barrack’s Rd. mall, back up that road near Taco Bell that runs back up to JPA, across that pedestrian bridge that gets me back to Rugby, and then back to the mall via Rose Hill and behind Bodo’s. The worst intersection to get across is always the one at Main/Water/McIntire/whatever that is called and the 29/Main (or whatever they call that over there). As everyone knows, roads change names at least once per mile.

I now have to decide where to expand my typical path to get up beyond the 12 mile mark.

By: Chris McVey

Chris McVey — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:38:50 +0000

I read your blog from time to time, and at first thought it quite amusing. But, from a rhetorical and stylistic perspective, how can you expect any of your criticisms to be taken seriously if they are all negative? The ideological war you rage against C’ville is openly admitted, which gives you an edge on most political television or radio networks, but all of your arguments are compromised by the fact that you seem to seek out actively any negative news available about this little town.

Most of these criticisms apply to much of the American landscape; I’d suggest, in comparison to most of the country (and especially Virginia), C’ville is an awesome place to live.

Basically put, I’m not disagreeing with (all of) your criticisms, but the blatantly cynical and solipsistic vehicles through which you launch them.
——

On an entirely unrelated note, I’m a long distance runner, too, and find that we’ve run many of the same races in close the same time. I’ll be in Richmond this fall, too, shooting for 3:30. Where do you do your 20 milers? The real problem with this city is that the Rivana trail is horrible for long runs and the highways that encircle it make any long distance run a geometrical impossibility.

By: Kevin Cox

Kevin Cox — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:26:40 +0000

I’ve run one marathon and that was Richmond last year. I got hurt at mile 16 and it was all I could do to limp and hop to the finish line in 4 hours and 37 minutes. I might go back and see if I can do better. 26 miles is a long way to run. Maybe I’ll see you there. It’s a nice course, mostly flat and lots of smiling, cheerful people along the way!

The Clark School 5k is coming up in September. Are you going to run that?

Grouchily,
Kevin Cox

By: Sad

Sad — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 14:27:17 +0000

I keep running into your blog on Waldo’s Charlottesville Blogs aggregator and I have to say something: You need to stop whining. Seriously. You sound like a three year-old. And a spoiled one at that. It’s too hot! People are smoking! Local government sucks! Police don’t care! There’s no HDTV being broadcast! And so on. If I were the type of person who enjoys the suffering of others, I would probably read your blog with joy. As it is, all I see from you is an endless rephrasing of problems (of which I am already aware) and how they affect you more than anyone else. What have you done to solve any of them? What do you do to make your town better?

I will likely be skipping anything you have to say from now on…

By: Outskirts Guy

Outskirts Guy — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 13:05:40 +0000

Here is one reference to the students being counted. There was much more recent discussion since we may have made it under 40k in the most recent census (thus lack of funding for the 40k threshold).

By: Patience

Patience — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 11:13:13 +0000

Seriously? They count the students in our census? I thought they didn’t, because when a census is done, the students would be counted as living at their permanent addresses.

If this town has only 22,000 people, that explains a lot.