I guess I ended up making it outside today after all.

I mean, I kind of knew it was going to happen. Reagan got sick last weekend, a long with our close neighbor friends. Then last week, it seemed like the entire office was sneezing and coughing. I still wasn’t having any symptoms up through Wednesday. I was starting to think that maybe I had dodged a bullet. Then Thursday came along and my immune system finally caved. I haven’t left the house today, and I don’t plan to unless it catches fire. I’m going to pig out on vitamins and tea so that I don’t die during my 18 miler in the morning.

The kicker? The lovely fall weather that we were having has reverted to high 70′s  and muggy rainstorms. According to the forecast, we have another 4 days of that to look forward to. So, instead of being bundled up in a blanket sipping steaming tea, I’m sweating it out in my boxers with the fan on– choking down tea that has already cooled to a lukewarm temperature.

Enough negativity, though. Sometimes I feel like I need an external factor beyond my control to make me take a break and regroup. So instead of stressing myself out about all of the things that I planned to get done today, I’m just going to chill out and know that I can try again tomorrow.

I wish that I could say I was the clever person that came up with the above graphic. Alas, I borrowed it from Laughing Squid. Well, the hype (yet to be seen whether or not it was undeserved), did end up getting the better of our weekend plans. We decided to scrap the DC trip and hold down the fort. I’m not really holding my breath, like the title of this post suggests. But I am pretty anxiously awaiting to see exactly how this thing is going to play out.

Our car was parked directly below a tree limb (above) so I had to move it this morning. Other than that, we have just been doing the typical “get-ready” stuff. We stocked up on water batteries and all of the other good stuff.

The building where I work is in the mandatory evacuation zone. It will be interesting to see what kind of damage, if any it sustains. From what I have heard, public transportation won’t be back online until after Monday anyway. I feel kind of like I’m living in the twilight zone.

We took a walk this morning, and the city felt the same way that it does on Christmas, except quieter and warmer. It was spitting rain a bit, but that was about the only perceivable evidence that there is a hurricane en-route. I’ll try to update as much as possible (anything interesting) as this thing develops, to the extent that we have power and aren’t is some sort of panicked state.

This isn’t exactly what we had planned for the weekend, but I think that it might be a pretty interesting alternative.

Mother nature is messing with us. I’m sorry to be writing about hurricane stuff, because that is all anyone is talking about today. But, it is looking like this storm is going to seriously affect our weekend plans. It makes me crazy when everything that we had planned out, is suddenly up in the air like this. Happy Friday?

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A great sign that summer is on it’s way out is when hurricane season arrives. I wouldn’t say that we are already in hurricane season. But, apparently Irene is coming through this weekend. As a side note: the young and impressionable Jake was always curious about how the names of hurricanes were chosen. This was one of scads of technical questions that I was able to ask my dad and receive a true and accurate answer about. In the pre-Google days, I feel bad for people who didn’t have a certified genius for a dad, like I do.

Back on topic, the days are shorter, etc.. I certainly hope that Irene turns out to be all media hype, like every other hurricane that has made it’s way in our direction since I have been a New Yorker. Why? I have some good stuff planned for the next few days. I’m not just talking about my boring old running. I’m supposed to be shooting something tomorrow morning that I’m pretty stoked about. Aside from that, a DC road trip is on the calendar for this weekend. More outdoor activities are slated for DC.

So, I can deal with the fact that the sun is no longer making itself seen until after 6 AM. But Irene, please girl, leave us alone this weekend. Ok? Go ahead and send your siblings through in a couple weeks, so that we have some real waves for NYC’s first real surf competition. But, I know that I’m not just speaking for myself when I plead with you to just turn yourself around and head back out to sea. k, thx.

[photo: shot on my way out the door to make the first video tutorial for the photo series]

I have never been able to successfully shoot lightning… until tonight. I mean, at least marginally successfully. These images aren’t blowing my mind or anything. But they are definitely better than the crap that I have captured in the past. When I walked in the door from this evening’s run, the whole hallway lit up. Then it happened again like 3 times, before I even got to the bedroom. So, without even changing out of my nasty sweaty running garb, I grabbed a cam and a tripod and scurried up to the roof (which I hear is one of the smartest places to be in a lightning storm). Anyway, the flashes were so frequent and consistently located, that it was almost like shooting fish in a barrel. When the storm started to move more directly overhead, I felt like it was time to call it quits and retreat. Here is one more shot of a lightning illuminated cloud.

The weekend was pretty good overall. As previously mentioned, we made it out to the shore. Reagan posted some of that action over here. It started raining Saturday night and did not stop until early Monday morning. I Should say “didn’t sort of stop,” because really it is still raining intermittently. I know that posts about the weather are lame. But, apparently we broke some records. So, it didn’t just seem like a lot of rain. It actually really was a lot of rain.

I got the image above when we jumped back in the car to return from Westchester, Sunday afternoon. Apparently, Reagan thought it would also be a nice image for her instagram (below).

Speaking of Reagan, she is giving away some hair product on HDOF this week, to celebrate breaking the 1k mark in FB likes. Check it out.

One more Reagan story– When we arrived back in the city on Sunday afternoon, we had to stop into the hardware store briefly, while walking back from the car. I had to pick up some parts to fix some stuff around the house. Reagan asked if she could get a treat. This is what she picked out:

I was laughing so hard. The dude at the check out was nodding with approval as he bagged it up for us. Apparently, Reagan has always wanted one of these sandwich makers. She didn’t waste any time putting it to use. She made grilled cheese with tomato for dinner. Then Nutella/banana/peanut butter sandwiches for dessert.

Early Sunday, Reagan and I took her family to Liberty Island. It was the first time that we had ever been there. We aimed to make it on the first boat over to the Statue of Liberty and nearly made it. We did eventually make it over to the island, but because we took a later boat over, we couldn’t spend very much time there (because we were meeting one of Reagan’s sister’s at Piper’s house). Anyway, Reagan’s fam went up into the statue pedestal. Reagan and I couldn’t go, since we had prohibited items (large umbrellas and an iPad). So we did what anyone would do and had a mini photo shoot. Hahaha.

Liberty Island is pretty awesome, but I’m not sure if it is worth all of the hassle to get over there. Here is one more pic.

Europe tomorrow.

Saturday evening, we took a stroll in Central Park. Not long after we entered the park, there was a micro burst, followed by some awesome evening light. Above: Reagan flipping her hair around; Below: from behind.

Reagan, her parents, brother and aunt at the bandshell:

When I said awesome evening light, I wasn’t foolin’ Reagan wasn’t too happy about posing for these shots, but seriously, check out the light.

One more of the light–

Finally, the obligatory Times Square visit. Reagan was expressing her amazement of all of the sites.

Tomorrow: pack for Europe.

Do you ever have those days that you totally expect to go a certain way, but then they don’t and it is super deflating? That was me yesterday. It was so packed. Super packed. I was really excited when I left the house in the morning, until I walked out into the pouring rain. The day ended up being almost a complete bust. It is possible that the non-stop monsoon caliber weather had something to do with it. I’m not going to go into the inanities of yesterday’s shortfalls. But let’s just say that there was a saving grace toward the end of the evening. I always enjoy the soiree’s that Kiehl’s throws, because my home ZT is there to hang out with.

Pharrell also came through (above), and gave me a “star trak” (no, not star trek) “v”. Meanwhile, pouring rain.  All of these shenanigans are part of the 160 year birthday celebration that Kiehl’s is currently having. Do you use any Kiehl’s stuff? Reagan and I are both huge fans. As a part of the hooplah, they designed some throwback packaging, check it-

Anyway, thanks Zack, Kiehl’s and Pharrell for salvaging and otherwise crap day. I really hope that we can have a bit of a reprieve from the rain, soon. Because… dude!

In unrelated news, apparently we will be arriving in the Eurosphere just in time for some Spanish protesting in Barcelona. If I’m lucky, maybe I can get a shot of a dude getting hit with a tear gas canister, or something.