Luis and I spend every Christmas together. I work all day then come over and eat his stale popcorn and pretzels and watch Logo.  Today was a Priscilla Queen of the Desert rerun on Logo, so we watched the MLB channel instead. He shouted the names of every player that was on the screen, even if only for 3 seconds. We exchanged presents, the same thing every time. He gives me worn out t-shirts from the 70’s and 80’s and I bring him pastries and new marathon shirts that were too big for me. Today I gave him an Alaska t-shirt with a moose on it that he was very excited for because he thought it would show off his muscles this summer.

He told me there was a review of a book in the Times about a runner in the park that sounded like his physical description, but with an imaginary background. It called him Skinny Ginsberg.

“When I first spotted Skinny Ginsberg, he struck me as a sad soul. His big, brown, searching eyes peer out behind what may or may not be protective lenses meant for soldering. He wore rumpled sweatsuits, the sleeves pushed up to the elbows, revealing twiggy arms.

Sure, he had a slight problem with amphetamines a decade or so ago, but that was just a function of his drive, his work ethic, the tiny terror that he might end up like his father, a pinched man, a high school principal in Paramus.  ”

Luis’ house is covered in running trophies and medals. Every inch of every table is filled. This is part of the living room:

This is Luis’ freezer:

Frozen crackers anyone?

I’ve been completing at least a marathon or longer once a month, but I still have 22 states to complete in my marathon tour. I’ve finished most of the west and east coast but I need to tackle lots of places in the mid-west. Starting in March I think I’ll be running a marathon a week so I can finish this project by the end of ‘09.

My latest art piece is sending a personal ad into space. Biped preferred. More on that when it’s finished.

And I’ve been taking my photo everyday, almost.