Running the Deserted Night

So it's 12:30 in the morning and I can't sleep...

I don't think any blog post anywhere has ever recovered from an opening line like that, but here we are. It's been awhile since I couldn't fall asleep, but somewhere between lights out and now, I started thinking about my old job working with juvenile delinquents. I use to replay incidents and scenarios in my head all the time and rework my response until I figured out how best to respond. It's probably a similar process to little kids when they're first starting to talk, talking in their cribs or beds or whatever, trying to sound out words and phrases. That's what I feel like at least... Except I'm usually yelling in my mind for them to shut up. In my mind they usually do! But, there's nothing like yelling at kids to get your blood pumping.

I guess the point is, Counseling did not exactly come naturally to me, so it's probably best that I've switched jobs entirely.

Anyways, I also wanted to comment on a movie I just saw... another auspicious start to blog posts. While I'm eager to see the new Harry Potter - my wife and I have been rereading the book aloud this past week - I just saw a movie that was surprisingly cool and wonderful and all around just a great movie, Running the Sahara. It's this documentary about these three endurance runners who set off to run the entire length of the Sahara desert, some 4300 miles of barren sand dunes, and what they encounter along the way. They did it with no days off for well over three months.

It really is quite spectacular to watch somebody accomplish such a huge undertaking. It makes me wonder what I'm up to with my life... if such a feat is in my cards. (As always, I like to bring the focus back to me.) The landscape was also both devastatingly harsh and insanely beautiful, so I've added to my list of places a place that I thought I would never have wanted to see. The desert would be amazing, especially the Tenere Desert, but how cool would it be to see one of these.