Adventures in Onionism

There's an article in the NYT today about a fairly high up Mormon leader finding out information about the church's history that contradicts the official version, then getting pushback from his superiors, and then starting to doubt, and finding all his honest inquiry stymied. "Wow, the sky is blue," I thought, since I think or read this every other day or three. But apparently it's news to a lot of people, so the more publicity it gets the better. I recommend the links nested in the article as well.

I don't think the article is that good, but here it is. It's about this paved, hot and humid race in Philly. Which I guess has a fairly large field as far as these things go; but I just read that on the course website, not in the mediocre article. The loop is the standard 8.4-mile running loop in downtown Philly. It's nice for an urban river trail. But like I said, it's paved, flat, and run in July in Philly, so I have no desire to ever do it. This week I did become overwhelmed with a sudden desire to run Badwater next year, however. UPDATE: Mr B and I walked over to the race to cheer on the runners, only to discover that the whole thing had been cancelled due to the heat. From the 20in24.com race website:

I presented my research yesterday. Seemed like it went well. The swamp-ass weather is not suiting me well. If you feel the same, then you should watch the Norwegian film Kon-Tiki from 2012, while huddled in your AC cocoon. Sorry, I can't get it to embed right now. [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97XrASFPhF0 ] Also watch the original doc, with real 16mm film from the voyage, if you can find a copy. [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Joem9SKS3LY ] And remember that Gourevitch article in The New Yorker about Rwandan cycling? Now there's a doc. [ http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/risingfromashes/ ]

This is not a post about fashion. It's about functionality. All my shorts are too long for this stupid east coast heat and humidity. Being a semi-dwarf doesn't help. So I bought some Patagonia Stand Up shorts . Crazy expensive, but they're pretty much all I could find. Just so you know, the 7" inseam is reasonable, the 5" is not. 8" would be better. This weather/place is killing me. The AC in my office doesn't work after 5PM, the coffee shop closes at 6, and the public library closes at 7. I might pack it in after my seminar on Wednesday and find a nice coffee shop in Colorado. That's today's daydream, anyway. Back to work.

20 big names in running/hiking/climbing describe the trails they'd like to do . The finest climbing videos of 2012 .

Jez Bragg ran the Te Araroa trail across New Zealand in 53 days. [ irunfar article ] Anton Krupicka aborted his attempt at Nolan's 14 early. [ UD blog ] My girlfriend started the JMT today. Another buddy finished his third time. Heather (Anish) is currently doing quite well on her PCT speed record attempt. [ Her fb site ] Meanwhile, I'm doing research, my knee hurts so I couldn't run further than 3 miles this morning, and it's really hot and humid out. Since gf is moving to Florida I read a Carl Hiaasen mystery novel, Double Whammy . People, including Dave Davies [ Fresh Air interview] , seem to think he's outrageous and hilarious. He's got a nice liberal environmentalist satire thing going, but it's still just empty calories.

From the official race photographer, maybe? Facchino Photography. Crazy expensive, as usual, but there are some good shots , including me crossing the finish line. Speaking of the finish line, here's a brief clip of video after crossing the finish line via Ashley. Unfortunately she stopped it before the dry heaving (and you'll have to forgive the vertical video ). But you can still get the sense I didn't want people bugging me.