Wedding Time

J.P. and Janet.

The last two years I haven't seen much of J.P. or Janet for that matter. We all met through the triathlon club, served on the club board together. It was Janet who got me into Facebook - "c'mon Rick we are all in here, join in on the fun". It was J.P. who talked me into taking over his spot as the run director as he took on the responsibility of being club president. There were parties, runs, bike rides and lots of meetings. Then Janet left for Kellogg's in Chicago for graduate school and J.P. moved out of San Francisco, back to a smaller place in Marin to save money on rent. For the next two years they traveled back and forth between the two cities every three weeks or so, J.P. more so than Janet. In the end their love persevered. Both are back in San Francisco and I was honored to be at their wedding. Just a feel good story all around.

Enjoy the pictures.

J.P. and Janet.

Groomsmen and their pal Angela.

The Venue.

Two friends I would like to see at their own wedding one day.

Yours truly on the far right. I clean up okay.

The tables were named after trails and bike paths.

The last wedding celebration I attended was theirs. Such goofballs, made for each other.

Thank God it's July!

June was a tough month. I know I hardly post on here but I actually missed a whole month! It was tough because there was a lot going on, more than the usual.

I had a big race in the middle of the month as well as some time scheduled with my mom and relatives in southern California. I was looking forward to all of that but my stepdad, the man who raised me, was also in the hospital and his progress was like the terrain in my trail race - a series of ups and downs. His condition as you can imagine was a source of concern and stress for the whole family. At the end of May I actually flew out to Orlando to be with him for a week. I dedicated my run in San Diego to him, I've never run for someone, and the week after he passed away. It was tough news for the family but I was also thankful that it was not a sudden death. We had time to say our goodbyes and ponder the possibility of a life without him. I am especially thankful to have seen him one last time.

Ah Dad... what else is there to say that hasn't been said already. I am the man I am largely because of you. You are truly missed.

James S. Frederick Sr., my dad.

Music

You know where's a good place to listen to music without having to pay for it, a great place to check out music from artists you are unfamiliar with before committing to paying for an album - YouTube. The 30 second snippets that they give you on iTunes or Amazon is just not enough sometimes.

A good friend, Katelyn Benton, an artist herself, used this song on one of her race videos. Loved it and I finally got the name of the song from her today. Check it out and after doing that you should check out the second video which is Katelyn's. She's pretty darn talented and is a great ultra-marathoner on top of that. I am always surprised at what my ultra-marathoning friends do outside of running.

Video of The Cinematic Orchestra's "To Build A Home" featuring Patrick Watson Live @ The Barbican in London, 2007. As heard on ABC's Grey's Anatomy. "To Build A Home" is found on The Cinematic Orchestra's most recent album Ma Fleur

Katelyn Benton, Impossible Love. Winner of the 2009 JPFolks award for BEST MUSIC VIDEO. Off of the EP Once, available at digstation.com Song features Big Head Todd and the Monster's Jeremy Lawton on lap steel and organ and Captain Pablo's Corey Schreppel (drums) and Dave Stephens (Bass). Directed by Brandon Nicholas. Cinematography by James Mann.

Just Incredible

I've heard about him before, forgotten and was reminded this evening. Gotta love Facebook and friends posting their favorite videos. Simply amazing.

And It's Already April

So I finished reading the book. Actually I finished it a couple of weeks ago. Really liked it, I'm still thinking about it in fact. Now I go around looking at dogs and saying "What are you thinking? Speak to me dog, speak to me!" Of course mostly I'm just thinking it. I mean c'mon I don't want to look like a lunatic in the city, there's enough people here who talk to themselves. That's a market I don't want any share in.

Speaking of dogs though here is one I've been lucky to dog sit. Huck is much bigger than this now, they grow scary fast. One day they are a pup, the next day a large dog.

Work is still slow but I'm am so damned busy. It's crazy how I can be so busy without working a full-time job. How did I get anything done when I was working 40-50 hours a week. Huh. My theory is that I'm just faster and more efficient when things are hectic. Just a theory. I run like that. When I'm training I think to myself, "Jeez you are so slow, how do you ever finish well?" But when it's time to boogie, the boogie is in the legs. Anyway till next time.

Huck from Rick Gaston on Vimeo.

My New Book

I read a lot but not necessarily books. I'm always on the internet; blogging, facebooking, tweeting, reading news at sfgate, cnn and other miscellaneous websites. I will be at Wikipedia looking up subjects I've read or learned about from my netflix movies. I've even started using the internet in my bible studies - sometimes my bible is hard to understand but I found a site where I can read passages in all the available translations. I also have a stack of magazines collecting dust. Oh and a small library of audiobooks and podcasts. Nothing like a good book though. I grew up on books. When I was a child I lived in a part of the Philippines where there were only 3 channels and only two of them clear. I was an only child with no toys because I kept taking them apart. So I spent my days day dreaming to the music of my uncle's record collection, drawing and plotting world domination on notebook paper and reading books from the school library.

Last Sunday at a dinner party we talked briefly about a book and it turned out that a friend had it and was gracious enough to lend it to me. It was a gift given to him shortly after his dog passed away. The book is called "The Art of Racing in the Rain". Some of you know I'm big on running so no this has nothing to do with running in the rain. It's about a dog. I just read the first chapter at lunch and now I just want to stop working, pick up a mocha at the coffee shop downstairs and read on my couch. I even forgot the annoying sound of a generator that has been running for most of the day at the building next door while I was reading.

The Camera's Name is Lazarus

I have this Nikon snapshot camera that is about 4 years old. One day it just stopped working. No this isn't the one with the broken screen that is still somewhere in Southern California. I turned it on, the lens came out, the picture on the view finder was blurry, I got an error message, the lens retracted and the camera turned itself off. Not knowing anything about lenses, well really the whole camera, I just gave up on it and bought a new one. These cameras are so cheap it's not worth having them fixed.

I never threw it away. The camera body is scratched, the silver finish is buffed off in many places revealing the light gray plastic of the camera body underneath – this is why they are so light and perfect for running, but I kept it. I just couldn't throw this one away. We had done many training runs together, a couple of triathlons, even a couple of 100-mile races together.

Today I was playing with it; turning it on, waiting for the lens to come out, get the error message then turn itself off. I kept doing this over and over again then once while the lens was out I banged it on the desk lightly. It turned itself off but when I turned it back on, the picture on the screen was clear and no error message. The camera is fixed. Oh yeah an old favorite is back in action. Maybe I take a few pictures and post them here to prove it.