Yesterday’s run was nothing special to write about. I did my regular route down to Carkeek Park. Only exception is that I incorporated some newly acquired hill sprint tips. That was fun.
What was most striking about yesterday was my running train of thought that went from refugees, to the book I’m currently reading, to the neighborhood I run through almost every day, and education. As this is the place for me to record my “running thoughts” (no matter how unprofound they may be), I guess I’ll put it all down here…
First, I started reading a new book yesterday. It’s a biographical novel on one of the “Lost Boys” of Sudan. The pulitzer-prize winning book is called What is the What by Dave Eggers.
So this book is obviously a great connection to the plight of refugees. It’s also a connection to the neighborhood I often run through. Located just off the corner of 85th and Greenwood is a magical little tutoring center called 826 Seattle. The cool thing about the center is that the front-end is a space-travel store. They sell all kinds of stuff from space food to ray guns to moon dust.
Anyway, the guy that started up the “826 seattle” concept is also the same guy that wrote “What is the What.” He also just won the 2008 TED award where he was granted one wish. Check out his TED2008 presentation here.
As you will see, his wish was for folks to find a way to help support public schools through volunteering, etc. He’s started up a website for people to record how they’ve contributed to his wish – Once Upon A School.
As I thought about all these things, I also started thinking about my future role in education, how to help those in our community that need it most (refugees being just one of the major groups), and how our upcoming trip to England ties into the future. All this has my mind buzzing as I think about what on earth “pacific315″ is all about. That’s a whole other story!
beats today: 8,400
total beats: 109,200!!!
