| Place | Name | City | Age | Age Group | Chip Time | Pace |
| 671 | Steven Schmidt | IL | 30 | 91 M 30-34 | 38:05.6 | 10:13/M |
New Year’s Resolutions Mid-Year Update
My 2009 New Year’s Resolutions (Updated 7/20)
- Travel internationally (not for work)
- Still working on getting an Oktoberfest trip together…looking grim
- Maybe do a fall Caribbean trip if above falls through
- Stop using the F-Bomb – I wish…I still talk like a sailor
- Start climbing/bouldering again – Very disappointed that I am slacking on this one
- Read more books (actually, listen to more books via audible.com) I am pretty embarrassed by this book list:
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
- The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferris
- Getting Things Done, David Allen
- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey
- Less drinking – Hahahahaha
- Run a 5k, 10k, Half-Marathons 1 2, and a Marathon 1 or 2 or 3
- BOA Shamrock Shuffle 8K
- Kentucky Derby miniMarathon
- Soldier Field 10 Mile
- Warrior Dash 6K
- Stick to a budget – Hahahahaha
- Try a new restaurant every other week – I don’t know about every other week but I have definitely made some progress in trying to eat at every 4 and 5 star restaurant in ChiTown
- Bikram – Not doing so hot, pun intended
- Spend more time outside – eh…
- Drink more water – Stopped buying pop in bulk, now I just drink more coffee
- Cook more – Outside of Sunday dinners I still eat out 2-3 meals a day
- Masquerade Ball & Booze Cruise – Not looking good, but WWR was so awesome that I can live with failing here
- Blog more – Some progress, kinda addicted to Twitter instead
- Redesign ChiCityEvents.com site – Might need help with this one
- One hundred push ups – Can drop and do 40 easy, can do 100 in a few sets, but still can’t do 100 consecutive
- Bonus Resolution, do the Chicago Triathlon Sprint distance – Registered for the race, signed up for swim lessons and bought a wetsuit
- Bonus #2, take a photography class – Comparing DSLRs right now, haven’t pulled the trigger
“Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever.”
~Mark Twain
The Friend Zone…
Via [TopCultured.com]
Soldier Field 10 Mile
Steven Schmidt #6371CHICAGO, IL, USA
Age: 29 Gender: M
Age: 29 Gender: M
| Distance | 10 M |
| Clock Time | 1:51:36 |
| Chip Time | 1:43:12 |
| Overall Place | 5382 / 7278 |
| Pace | 10:20 |
| Split | 49:54 |
Garmin
Kentucky Derby miniMarathon
Wrigley Start Early Run 10K
Why you should live in Chicago in 2009
Why you should live in Chicago
Fine culture and greasy food
As the largest city in the Midwest, Chicago strikes the perfect balance between cosmopolitan and comfortable, combining all of the culture, entertainment and sophistication of an internationally renowned destination with an affordable lifestyle and down-to-earth work hard/play hard character.
World-class cultural fixtures like the Art Institute, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago International Film Festival and a vibrant theater scene are complemented by popular festivals like Jazz Fest, Blues Fest and the recently revitalized Lollapalooza, Outdoor Film Festival, and Second City, which happens to be the source of 39% of the U.S.’s greatest comedians (a scientifically calculated fact!). Chicago possesses one of the world’s most vibrant, diverse and innovative restaurant scenes, from culinary luminaries like Charlie Trotter, Grant Achatz and Rick Bayless to an astounding variety of hole-in-the-wall neighborhood joints to Chicago’s signature greasy trinity of deep dish pizza, Italian beef and Chicago-style hot dogs.
A hardcore sports town, Chicago covers all of the professional leagues (some twice) with teams that actually have history, both famous and infamous. And while the winters are rough, Chicagoans make the most of the warmer months, taking their love of sports to the beaches, courts, paths, and parks of Chicago’s beautiful lakefront, set aside as public land for the entire city’s enjoyment.
Read more about Chicago
Why you should live in Chicago in 2009
Lollapalooza, the Hawks and the Cubs
This year, Chicago is a city abuzz. The International Olympic Committee announces the 2016 host city this October, and Chicago’s glitterati and power brokers are schmoozing it up as they create numerous support committees in the hopes that Chicago is selected. Lollapalooza is already a music fan’s Mecca, and with Jane’s Addiction now back together, where better to catch Perry Farrell this year than headlining his own festival?
On the cultural front, the new modern wing of the Art Institute of Chicago will be opening in May, and history buffs living in the Land of Lincoln will be busy checking out the numerous exhibitions celebrating his bicentennial. Chicago is always fertile ground for political junkies, but Obama’s election paired with the Blagojevich and Burris fiascoes have turned an always entertaining political scene into a full-blown three ring circus that even those who aren’t armchair pundits will find fascinating.
After years in the standing’s wilderness, the Blackhawks — one of the original six teams in the NHL — are once again a force to be reckoned with. Meanwhile, the Cubs are projected by most to be tops in the National League, and a World Series victory would set off a citywide party of the century — literally.
Read more about Chicago
Via [AskMen.com]
A Vision for High Speed Rail
What we’re talking about is a vision for high-speed rail in America. Imagine boarding a train in the center of a city. No racing to an airport and across a terminal, no delays, no sitting on the tarmac, no lost luggage, no taking off your shoes. (Laughter.) Imagine whisking through towns at speeds over 100 miles an hour, walking only a few steps to public transportation, and ending up just blocks from your destination. Imagine what a great project that would be to rebuild America.
Now, all of you know this is not some fanciful, pie-in-the-sky vision of the future. It is now. It is happening right now. It’s been happening for decades. The problem is it’s been happening elsewhere, not here.
In France, high-speed rail has pulled regions from isolation, ignited growth, remade quiet towns into thriving tourist destinations. In Spain, a high-speed line between Madrid and Seville is so successful that more people travel between those cities by rail than by car and airplane combined. China, where service began just two years ago, may have more miles of high-speed rail service than any other country just five years from now. And Japan, the nation that unveiled the first high-speed rail system, is already at work building the next: a line that will connect Tokyo with Osaka at speeds of over 300 miles per hour. So it’s being done; it’s just not being done here.
There’s no reason why we can’t do this. This is America. There’s no reason why the future of travel should lie somewhere else beyond our borders. Building a new system of high-speed rail in America will be faster, cheaper and easier than building more freeways or adding to an already overburdened aviation system –- and everybody stands to benefit.
Via [Whitehouse.gov]
The 50 Most Brilliant Atheists of All Time
Atheism is generating quite a lot of attention these days. Prominent atheists are getting the word out about their views in increasing numbers and generating lots of public debate on the proper place of religion in governments and societies in the modern world. And now more than ever, atheists have been able to network together and join forces because of the Internet.
Today about 2.3 percent of the world’s population identifies themselves as atheist, and nearly 12 percent more (a number that is quickly growing) describe themselves as nontheist – non-believers in any deity. The ranks of scientists boast probably the largest concentration of atheists, and many of those have been recognized as among the most brilliant of human beings for their work. But there are atheists in all walks of life and throughout history as well.
Here’s a look at 50 of the most prominent atheists of all time who also happen to be recognized as some of the most brilliant members of our species.
As a note of clarification: we’ve ordered this list chronologically and we use the term “brilliant” to mean “brilliant at their craft” – not just pure brainiacs;-)
Via [brainz.org]